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International fruit juice ingredients supplier Cobell has just announced the launch of two new products – Juice Box and Smoothie Box

The containers are similar in design to a wine box with self-sealing tap on the side of the box which means it doesn’t even have to be moved from the fridge.

Customers can choose from either a standard range of NFC (Not From Concentrate) juices or smoothies or they can create their own bespoke recipes at Cobell’s own UK based juice-blending and aseptic packaging facility.

The standard Juice Box juice range is currently available in: pineapple, cloudy apple, apple pear, forest fruits, summer fruits, apple, damson rhubarb, natural lemonade, grapefruit and orange. The standard Smoothie Box range is available in: mango passion fruit, cranberry raspberry and strawberry.

Clients can experiment with their own juice or smoothie combinations at Cobell’s research and development facility and they can choose whether to have their own branding on the packaging or whether to use the vibrant and stylish designs of the Juice Box and Smoothie Box brands.

Cobell sources its NFC juices from around the world and the range includes organic, non-gm, Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance approved juices.

Juice and Smoothie boxes are available in 3, 5 or 10 litre boxes and come with an easy self-sealing tap dispenser which allows for a clean and easy pouring of the juice or smoothie straight from the fridge.

The aseptic packaging gives the product a six month ambient shelf life and once opened, the juice or smoothie has a 14 day open and chilled shelf life.

Simon Pearson, Cobell Business Development Manager who heads the Juice Box and Smoothie Box sales team, said: “It is very exciting to be launching such a high quality and innovative product. We have already had a lot of interest from the catering sector who can see the huge benefits of being able to dispense chilled juices or smoothies directly from a tap on the end of the box.

“As well as being convenient and the right size to be neatly stored in the fridge, the way that our juices are gently pasteurised in Cobell’s aseptic plant means that the shelf life is longer and the high quality of the product isn’t compromised.

“We are already working with key regional distributors in Devon and Sussex to supply the speciality foodservice sector and we are in discussion with a number of direct-to-customer channels to launch both branded and jointly branded Juice and Smoothie boxes."

Cobell’s aseptic and packaging facility is based near the company’s South West headquarters in Exeter, UK. As part of the aseptic packaging system, bags are opened, filled and sealed in one continuous process which utilises steam sterilising. This results in the bags remaining totally sterile on the inside, resulting in the increased shelf-life of the product.