Britain gets fruity with smoothies

Having resolved to have a healthy 2007 after the excesses of the festive season, many of you may well be reaching for a smoothie to kick start the new regime. And it seems that you won’t be alone, as latest research from MINTEL finds that over the past five years the smoothies market has enjoyed a real burst of energy, with sales growing by no less than 523% to reach £134 million in 2006. Helped by the introduction of larger 1-litre cartons, there has also been significant growth in volume sales, with Brits knocking back 34 million litres of smoothies last year – enough to fill almost 14 Olympic size pools, up from just 6.3 million litres in 2001. Over the coming five years, volume sales are set to see greater increases than value sales as new entrants into the market are likely to lead to a fall in the average price of a smoothie. Volumes will almost treble between 2006 and 2011, up 186% to almost 100 million litres, while value sales will rise 76% over the same period.