We prefer tasty juices

Leaving behind a long and cold winter, during which our body’s vitamin reserves were depleted, we enter the warm period of year exhausted and vulnerable to diseases and changes in temperature. In order to face this transit period it is necessary to reestablish the storage of our body’s vitamins. This necessity in vitamins can be certainly fulfilled in different ways, nevertheless the natural way is consuming fruits and vegetables in all their forms. And if during this season fruits and vegetables are quite expensive, juices could  represent a very attractive source of vitamins – replacement for fruits and veggies, plus the fact that juices quench your thirst.

The Republic of Moldova, country of orchards and vineyards, in which the share of fruits and vegetables processing industry represents 4% of the country’s GDP, has exported about 29 thousands tones of juice during 2009. During the same period of time, the imports of juices into the country represented about 4,5 tones of juice. (Data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics).

Although the industry of fruits and vegetables processing would  ensure the local market’s necessities with sufficient quantity of juice, the presence on the market of imported juice indicates that consumers have varied preferences in terms of juices, not being limited to the local producers’ variety. If there was no demand, there wouldn’t be either supply.

Therefore, within the quarterly research carried on by Magenta Consulting regarding consumers behavior and preferences, on a sample of 1400 respondents from 24 urban places (+/-2, 6% error margin), the preferences of the townsmen toward the juices were studied.

From all the study participants, in February 2010 as juice consumers were declared 75% of respondents, in comparison with 73% as of November 2009. Nevertheless, in 2010 data, the share of those having preference for a certain juice brand decreased by 7 p.p. (52%), compared to the data from 2009.

Picture 1: Preferences toward certain juice brands, N=1400, %

The multicriterial analysis revealed the fact that teenagers consume juices in a larger share (91%, +6 p.p.), representing the segment with the highest degree of loyalty toward a brand (61% or + 9 p.p.). At the same time, juices are consumed in a higher degree by women (87%), who are more loyal to a certain brand (57% prefer a certain juice brand).

Taking into consideration the income of respondents, it can be stated that the highest level of juice consumption is registered among the respondents with a montly income of 8-9 thousand MDL (94%) and among those with more than 10 thousand MDL (92%). Nevertheless within this segmentation criterion, the most loyal juice consumers turned to be the persons with income ranging from 6 to 8 thousand MDL, 61% of them preferring a specific brand.

From the entire variety of juice brands present on the market of the Republic of Moldova, the highest brand awareness registered the juice brand Садочок, mentioned by 49% of study participants.  On the second place are positioned the brands Vita and Jaffa, each mentioned by 38%. Meantime, the juice brand Naturalis was named by 34% of the interviewed persons. It should be mentioned that in comparison with the data from the last year research (November 2009), significant increases in the juice brands awareness  can be mentioned in case of Naturalis and Vita brands. This trend can be explained by the intensification of the promotional campaigns of the juice producer from Orhei. However, most of the brands present in the top (and in general the brands mentioned by respondents) represent the brands of imported juice.

Picture 2: Juice brand awareness, N=1339, %

Among the loyal consumers, 22% prefer the juice produced by Садочок, while other 18% like Jaffa. At the same time, the local brands Vita and Naturalis are the preferred juices of 15% and 16% of respondents. At the same time, in comparison with the data collected from November 2009, the preference towards the last 2 brands increased with respectively 1 p.p. and 2 p.p.

Picture 3: The preferred juice brands, %

Regarding the juice selection criteria, the most important one for 77% of the study participants is the taste, followed by affordable prices (44%) and juice quality (31%). It is also interesting the fact that 16% of respondents mentioned advertising as being one of the criteria that determines the choice of juices.

Picture 4: Criteria of choosing the most preferred brand of juice, N=846, %

Therefore, the diversity of the juices can be mainly explained by the criteria of juice selection and by the principle of supply adjustment to the consumers’ needs. And considering the enlargement of the consumption foundation and the criteria for juice selection, the local market will be split among those producers who offer the consumer exactly what he wants, at a reasonable price and a product which would fall within the acceptable limits of quality appreciation. However, advertising is a weapon that definitely shouldn’t be ignored in the fight taking place among competition on the market of juices in the Republic of Moldova.