BY KATHRYN STEANE

According to The New Zealand Juice & Beverage Association, Kiwis spend $1.2 billion on cold, non-alcoholic drinks every year – that amounts to 640 million litres of soft drink, fruit juice, bottled water, flavoured milk, and sports and energy drinks. And while the market has traditionally been dominated by large companies like Coca-Cola Oceania; many smaller, boutique businesses are beginning to appear. There has also been a noticeable return within the industry to old-fashioned values (natural ingredients, classic flavours, less sugar); as well as a trend in non-alcoholic alternatives for adults. We take a look at some of the options currently available.

 

A wild idea

Aroha Drinks has made what seems like the ultimate paradox into a recipe for success. It makes a variety of beverages from elderflower, a plant considered by most people to be a weed, which are sold in up-market cafes and food outlets across the country, and have also won several awards.

There’s no denying that Aroha’s Elderflower Sparkle range provides a refreshing addition to the cold drinks scene; combining traditional Kiwi flavours like rhubarb, feijoa and blackcurrant with the naturally sweet elderflower. This fluffy white blossom – which was introduced to New Zealand by the early settlers – is part of the honeydew family and though unique in flavour, is said to taste most like gooseberries and lychees. It also has numerous medicinal properties, including the ability to strengthen the immune system.

Mark Dillon, the man behind Aroha Drinks, first began thinking about elderflower as an ingredient during a visit to Scandinavia, where he saw it used in cider. However, it wasn’t until he returned to New Zealand and his mother showed him an elderflower syrup she’d been making, that he began to think about its potential in a non-alcoholic beverage. Skip forward a few years, and the result is a delicious range of artisan-style drinks – Elderflower Original Sparkle, Elderflower Blackcurrant Sparkle, Elderflower Feijoa Sparkle and Elderflower Rhubarb Sparkle – made with blossoms harvested from the foothills of Canterbury’s Southern Alps.

For more information, visit www.arohadrinks.com.

 

Re-inventing the wheel

Generally there aren’t a lot of choices for adults wanting a non-alcoholic alternative to wine and the like. However, Mac’s – ironically, a brand best-known for making beer and cider – has solved this problem by creating a range of ‘grown-up’ soft drinks including Mac’s Ginger Beer, Mac’s Green Apple, Mac’s Lemon Crush and Mac’s Feijoa and Pear. These have been crafted with more mature tastes in mind; offering a tarter and less-sickly flavour than traditional fizzies. The beverages are also made from real, local ingredients – Mac’s Green Apple, for example, uses Granny Smiths grown in the Hawke’s Bay – which give them an authentic, slightly old-fashioned taste.

For more information, visit www.lion-nathan.co.nz.

 

Health by the glass

Healthy cold beverages can be equally hard to come by, but not in the case of Njoy. Its latest product – Cactus, Apple and Lime – for example, is literally overflowing with goodness thanks to the inclusion of prickly pear. This exotic fruit, which actually comes from a cactus, is one of nature’s ‘super foods’ and contains 17 amino acids, a high fibre content and vitamin C among other beneficial properties. The drink itself is also free of added sugar, and contains no preservatives or artificial flavours and colours.

These factors combined make Njoy Cactus, Apple and Lime a guilt-free summertime treat that can be added to another beverage (such as a mocktail) or enjoyed on its own.

Cactus, Apple and Lime is part of Njoy’s Exotica range, which also includes Banana, Lime, and Coconut; while an Everday range comprising more traditional flavours like Strawberry, Pear, Cherry, and Red Multivitamin is available, too.

For more information, visit www.njoydrinks.co.nz.

All is not as it seems

Also jumping on the adult soft drink bandwagon is Frusion. This range of beverages might look a lot like RTDs, but there’s not a drop of alcohol in sight – and that’s precisely the image the company wants to portray. It designed the bottles (which feature stylish, colourful labels) in such a way that whoever is drinking from them can still feel like they’re a part of the crowd that’s enjoying RTDs and other alcoholic beverages.

One of the main complaints from adults regarding existing soft drinks is that they are too sweet, so Frusion has made its beverages with 25 per cent less sugar than traditional fizzies; and in a range of refined flavours – Ginger Beer & Lime, Tropical Guava, and Soda Lime & Bitters.

For more information, visit www.lion-nathan.co.nz

 

Other cold drink options:

- Jones Soda: Drinks in such flavours as bubblegum, root beer and cream soda. For more information, visit www.jonessoda.com.

- Ti Tonics: Iced teas with unique health benefits. For more information, visit www.ti-tonics.com.

- Soul: Pina colada, mojito and cosmopolitan – without the alcohol. For more information, visit www.drinksoul.com.

- Alpine Gold: Premium fruit juices and mineral water. For more information, visit www.alpinegold.co.nz.

Toasting New Zealand’s best

Which is the nation’s best cold beverage? All will be revealed at the 2011 New Zealand Juice and Beverage Awards, taking place in November. This annual event provides member companies with an opportunity to showcase their products, which are judged across a number of categories by an independent panel comprising food technologists, marketers, dieticians, sports personnel, media and, of course, consumers. Last year’s Supreme Award Winner was Keri Apple and Blackcurrant Juice, a product of Coca Cola Oceania. See the December issue of Food & Beverage Today for a complete list of the 2011 winners.

Serving drinks with ice – not bugs

A third of ice cubes used to chill beverages in restaurants and pubs there contain hazardous levels of bacteria, potentially putting consumers’ health at risk, according to a new British study. Its findings can serve as a timely reminder to ensure good hygiene standards are in place for the ice machines in your business.

If ice machines are well maintained, hooked up to a clean water supply and regularly cleaned and sanitised, they would normally not be a likely source of gastrointestinal bugs.

However, like all other types of equipment used in food manufacture or processing, ice machines will – if they are unclean – allow any microbes present to grow. If this contaminates the ice, it can cause illness.

As with any other ready-to-eat food, ice is also susceptible to be cross-contaminated by food handlers if they do not take the necessary precautions. As such, taking ice from an ice machine with unclean hands or utensils could allow transfer of illness-causing microbes to the ice.

Some of the key points to remember when using ice machines are:

• do not handle ice directly when removing it from a machine or putting in a drink

• only use dedicated scoops/containers to remove ice from a machine, and clean/sanitise them regularly

• store ice scoops/utensils/containers hygienically between use – don’t leave them lying around to become contaminated by dust and dirt or used for something else

• clean and sanitise ice machines regularly following the manufacturers’ instructions.

MAF’s off-the-peg Food Control Plan (FCP) contains a section on cleaning and sanitation, which identifies ice machines as one of the high priority cleaning areas. The FCP can be found on MAF food safety website (www.foodsafety.govt.nz) by using Food Control Plan as the search words.