Juice concentrate is traded on two numbers and a name: the fruit, the Brix, and the concentration ratio implied by the two. Everything else in the contract exists to make sure those numbers mean the same thing to both parties. This guide explains what sits behind them.
Reference Brix and why it exists
Reconstituted juice has to taste like juice. That requires an agreed answer to a simple question: how much water do you add back to a concentrate to return it to single strength?
The answer is a reference Brix value for each fruit species – the soluble solids level considered characteristic of the juice as pressed. Directive 2001/112/EC relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption sets out the framework for the EU, including minimum Brix levels for reconstituted juice by species in its annex. The Codex General Standard for Fruit Juices and Nectars, CXS 247-2005, carries a comparable reference table used internationally.
The figures themselves are not restated here. What matters commercially is the structure: there is an agreed reference value per fruit, it is set in a public instrument, and a concentrate contract should cite the instrument rather than an internal house figure.
A supplier who quotes a reference Brix that differs from the instrument for that species is either working to a different standard, which should be named, or moving the goalposts. Ask which.
The arithmetic
The concentration factor is the concentrate Brix divided by the reference Brix for the species. A concentrate at roughly five times the reference value is a five-fold concentrate, and one kilogram of it reconstitutes to approximately five kilograms of single-strength juice.
Two refinements matter in practice.
First, the calculation is done on soluble solids, not on volume, and it assumes the concentrate contains nothing but concentrated juice. Any added water correction, aroma add-back or pulp addition changes the result.
Second, Brix has to be measured the same way at both ends. Refractometry to ISO 2173 with temperature correction is the norm, and the acid correction position – applied or not applied – has to be stated. On a high-acid fruit such as blackcurrant, cranberry or sour cherry the difference between corrected and uncorrected Brix is large enough to change the commercial value of a load.
What else moves with concentration
Everything soluble concentrates together. That is obvious for sugar and acid and less obvious for the things buyers care about downstream.
| Property | Behaviour on concentration |
|---|---|
| Sugars | Concentrate proportionally |
| Acids | Concentrate proportionally; Brix-acid ratio is preserved |
| Minerals and trace elements | Concentrate proportionally |
| Anthocyanin colour | Concentrates, but degrades with heat and time |
| Volatile aroma | Largely lost unless recovered and added back |
| Patulin and heavy metals | Concentrate proportionally |
| Pesticide residues | Concentrate proportionally |
The last two rows are the ones with legal weight. Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 carries maximum levels that apply to the product as placed on the market, and for concentrated products the relevant approach accounts for the concentration factor. A raw material that comfortably passes at single strength can fail at five-fold concentration. This is not a loophole to be managed; it is a reason to control the incoming fruit.
Authenticity: why anyone tests for it
Juice concentrate is one of the more adulteration-prone commodities in food trade, for structural reasons. It is a homogeneous liquid, its value derives from a species declaration that cannot be verified by eye, and cheaper species and sugars can be blended in without changing the appearance.
The industry response is a testing regime that goes well beyond composition.
- Sugar profile analysis, which detects added sugars from other sources.
- Stable isotope ratio analysis, which distinguishes cane and beet sugar from fruit sugar and can indicate geographic origin.
- Amino acid and organic acid profiling, which is species characteristic.
- Anthocyanin fingerprinting on red fruit, which detects species substitution.
The AIJN Code of Practice is the reference framework the European juice industry uses for evaluating juice quality and authenticity. It is a trade association code, not legislation, and that distinction matters: it is enforceable between commercial parties who adopt it, not by an authority. It is nonetheless the practical benchmark and a concentrate contract that cites it is a better contract than one that does not.
The EU’s food fraud framework and the coordinated control plans that sit under it treat juice as a recurring risk category. A buyer should assume their supplier is aware of that and should ask what authenticity testing they run and at what frequency.
Building a concentrate contract
- Fruit species, botanical name, and origin. Not the marketing name.
- Type: clear or cloudy, with a turbidity or pulp figure attached.
- Brix at delivery, with the method, the temperature correction and the acid correction position all named.
- Reference Brix and the instrument it comes from, so the concentration ratio is unambiguous.
- Titratable acidity and the Brix-acid ratio band.
- Colour, instrumentally or by assay, with a realistic band that acknowledges crop year variation.
- Aroma add-back: present or absent, and at what ratio if present.
- Authenticity testing regime and who pays for it.
- Contaminant limits referenced to the regulation in force, with the concentration factor explicitly acknowledged.
- Pack format and carriage: aseptic bag-in-box in drum for ambient, or frozen in drum, with the temperature regime stated.
Two deliveries of the same concentrate that differ noticeably in the finished drink almost always differ in a line that was left out of the contract. In order of likelihood: acid correction position, aroma add-back, and crop year colour.
Practical sourcing notes for Ukrainian concentrate
Ukraine is a significant origin for apple concentrate and a meaningful one for cherry, blackcurrant, elderberry and cranberry. Apple concentrate is the volume business and behaves like a commodity; the specialty red fruits behave like allocated crops and are contracted around harvest.
Because concentrate ships ambient in drums, the logistics are simpler and cheaper than frozen fruit and the corridor choice is less critical. That reverses the usual calculus: for concentrate, the sourcing decision is almost entirely about the processor’s technical capability and testing discipline rather than about the route.
For the broader format question, see the puree and concentrate formats guide. For what Brix means as a specification line in general, see the Brix question.