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Welch’s automatically springs to mind when anyone mentions grape juice. Not surprisingly, with over 400 products in its portfolio and exports to 35 countries across the globe. beverage innovation spoke with CEO Dave Lukiewski to discover how staying one step ahead of consumer needs has been the root of good ideas.

New Jersey-based Welch’s has been producing juice for well over 100 years and now has 400 products in its portfolio. Ranging from refrigerated juices and cocktails, to frozen and shelf stable concentrates, sparkling juices cocktails and a variety of single-serve products, each designed to meet the needs of its myriad consumers.

The company started in 1869 in the home of Dr Thomas Bramwell Welch in Vineland, New Jersey. Here, Dr Welch and his son Charles processed the first bottles of ‘unfermented wine’ for use with the communion service at their church.

Today, Welch’s is the food processing and marketing arm of the National Grape Co-operative Assocation. Organised in 1945, it's an agricultural cooperative with 1,350 members. The association’s growers share a commitment to the highest standards reflected in the quality of the Concord and Niagara grapes used in Welch’s products. The fruits of their labour are sold throughout the US and in more than 35 countries.

Claire Phoenix speaks to Welch's CEO Dave Lukiewski

How has the drink sector changed over the years Welch’s has been in business?

Change is happening more quickly. Fragmentation of customers is accelerating, the gap is widening between successful manufacturers and retailers versus others. This all necessitates a super-quick flow of information. Many years ago, we were the only grape juice around, and you’d find us in your one local grocery store. Now, consumers look for beverages in a wide variety of channels, and they expect to find an array of options to meet specific needs.

*What are your volumes now in comparison to 50 years ago? *

A good portion of our portfolio is in juices, but our consumer research shows that consumers agree we can expand into other fruit categories. Of course, we’re also known for Welch’s jams and jellies, but we have fast-growing platforms in areas such as dried fruit. Within juices, we’ve done a great job in following the consumer into the single-serve and refrigerated businesses. These areas didn’t even exist for us in the 90s, but today they’re reaching half our portfolio.

In which sectors have you found greatest growth?

In the US, the refrigerated business has been a large growth area, as consumers are looking for freshness and variety in that section. We’ve been able to consistently offer new flavours that appeal to the tropical flavour trend. We’ve also seen excellent growth in single-serve juices, as consumers are looking for convenient packaging that fits in with their busy lifestyles. We’ve greatly increased our presence in convenience stores, obviously with the 14oz bottle, and we’re continuing to offer new 10oz varieties of multipacks in grocery and club stores.

How does Welch’s meet consumer concerns on obesity?

For consumers concerned about calories, we have a line of Light juice products – with half the calories and sugar of regular Welch’s juices. A new flavour, Light Wild Berry, has just joined the existing flavours of Light Grape, White Grape and White Grape Peach. They're sweetened with Splenda for a natural taste. However, Light juices aren’t the only option. Consumers can still maintain a healthy weight and enjoy 100% Grape Juice, despite the fact that it contains natural sugars. Just 4oz counts as a serving of fruit and is less than 100 calories. In fact, an analysis of data from the <1> (NHANES 1999-2002) on people who drink grape juice showed no differences in weight, BMI, waist circumference or triceps skinfold measurements compared to non-drinkers.

Welch’s has been in the media recently thanks to the antioxidant credentials of grapes. Can you outline some of the studies behind these reports and what can be claimed?

Many of the benefits of drinking Grape Juice made from Concord grapes appear related, directly or indirectly, to its antioxidant effect. Welch’s 100% Grape Juice has a high concentration of polyphenols, natural plant compounds that function as antioxidants, which appear to promote and protect our good health.

Three recent scientific studies point to the abundant antioxidant capacity of Welch’s 100% Grape Juice. Firstly, Grape Juice from Concord grapes ranked the highest in antioxidant capacity, with the broadest range of phenolic compounds, as well as the highest total concentration of phenolic compounds, among popular UK juices and juice drinks.

Secondly, the USDA just published an updated database that provides the antioxidant capacity values of 277 foods, in terms of Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC), which can be found at <www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata/=">www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata/</a>" ORAC="ORAC"><2>.

Finally, Welch’s 100% Grape Juice made from Concord grapes was ranked the number one antioxidant beverage among all juices and beverages tested, and number two overall in an independent study measuring antioxidant capacity per serving.

Unlike in the US, Welch’s doesn't have the advantage of almost 140 years of heritage in the UK. Therefore, we need to look to our strengths. Purple Grape Juice is naturally high in antioxidants and polyphenols, it has a unique taste and it’s only available in the UK through Welch’s. So it makes sense to concentrate on Purple Grape Juice as our flagship product. Advertising and PR have concentrated on the antioxidant properties of Purple Grape Juice, and it has gained popularity as a result. However, it’s only available in one variety in the refrigerated section.

We need to extend distribution of Purple Grape Juice to more consumers. As a first step, we’ve blended Purple Grape Juice with popular high antioxidant berries to extend the flavour range to Strawberry and Raspberry, giving consumers alternatives that still have high antioxidant properties. The next steps are to extend Purple Grape into the smoothie market, again with naturally high antioxidant blends based on Purple Grape Juice and other popular fruits.

We plan to make Purple Grape Juice available in new pack formats, including single-serve, which will let us distribute in smaller stores and food services.

In 2005, Welch’s introduced 100% Grape Juice in single-serve bottles for immediate consumption. This was the first time consumers could buy Welch’s 100% Grape Juice in convenience stores, and the response was overwhelming: 100% Grape Juice became a top-selling flavour in both our 16oz glass and 15.2oz plastic bottles. This success reflected changing consumer dynamics, as on-the-go lifestyles merged with increased demand for healthy beverages.

To build on this success, in 2006 we entered a partnership with Amcor. The goal was to create a proprietary bottle design that would deliver groundbreaking shelf impact for Welch’s 100% juices. The joint development team met this challenge by creating a 14oz PET bottle that could withstand hot fill manufacturing, without the need for heat panels on the sides of the bottle. This revolutionary new bottle was then wrapped with a full shrink label that significantly increased the shelf appeal of the package.

This played an integral role in the line’s success, as coolers in convenience stores are highly cluttered, and only the most bold and eye-catching packaging stands out.

The 14oz line began shipping in January 2007. The initial line consisted of 100% Grape Juice and 100% White Grape Juice, as well as four additional 100% juice blends. Customer and consumer response was extremely positive, and we will introduce four more flavours in February 2008, bringing the total line to ten flavours. Our busy consumers can find Welch’s 14oz at Wal-Mart, 7-11, Walgreen’s, CVS, Target and thousands of regional and independent convenience stores.

What are the big issues for Welch’s right now?

Calorie concerns about juices have hurt the entire category, which is declining for the first time in memory. I don’t believe, however, that this is a long term trend. Consumers are constantly searching for healthy alternatives, and the goodness of fruit juices, particularly 100% juice, offers just that. We're constantly receiving good health news about the many benefits of Concord grapes and other 'purple' fruits and vegetables. Our goal is to ensure these studies are indeed correct and then communicate these benefits to the consumer. Having a unique, great-tasting grape juice like Welch’s is also a big plus. At the same time, we need to keep up with the fast pace of change in our industry by constantly evolving, making smart changes and being flexible.

Where do you see Welch’s in five years’ time?

In the next three to five years, we’re going to move from being a good company to a great company. That means we’ll be growing in terms of global reach, sales volume, profit and in value of the enterprise. We’ll be viewed inside and outside the organisation as an example of an excellent and successful company. The grape growers who own Welch’s will be profitable and satisfied that we’re also growing the value of the business that they own.