Despite a shortage of oranges

Fruit juice producer Pfanner with sales growth

The strong growth was due to positive developments in the core markets and price increases on the product side - but orange shortage remains a major challenge 

The Vorarlberg-based fruit juice and iced tea producer Pfanner increased its turnover by 12.2 percent year-on-year to EUR 406 million in the 2023 financial year, setting a new record. According to the company, the strong growth was due to positive developments in the core markets and price increases on the product side. The company has defied raw material controls and orange shortages. Pfanner traditionally does not provide any information on the result.

Worldwide shortage
"The 12 percent increase in turnover was achieved in particular due to the very positive development in all our markets," said Managing Director Peter Pfanner. The main markets are Germany, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic, with exports accounting for 83 percent. He described the global shortage of oranges as a major - and still existing - challenge. The fruit juice industry is trying to minimize the effects of a limited orange juice supply and is in close contact with suppliers, customers and partners. After all, orange juice is "the most popular fruit juice after apple juice in many of our main sales markets", says Peter Pfanner.

One of the causes of the orange shortage is the bacterial disease citrus greening, which causes orange trees to die. According to estimates, more than a third of the trees in the Brazilian citrus belt - the most important growing region in the world - are already affected. In addition, hurricanes and heatwaves last year caused the Florida growing region to have its smallest harvest in 85 years. The price of orange juice has tripled since 2020. "We fear further increases, as there is currently no improvement in sight for a longer period of time," lamented Peter Pfanner.

Confidence
Nevertheless, the Managing Director was confident for 2024. "Despite the many uncertainties in the world, we expect sales to continue to develop positively in 2024," he said. Pfanner put the investment budget for the current year at around 25 million euros. This mainly relates to the expansion of the high-bay warehouse at the production site in Enns by 10,000 pallet spaces, new filling systems and digitalization.

Pfanner supplies 80 countries
In addition to Lauterach and Enns, the fruit juice and iced tea producer Pfanner also has production facilities in Reinbek/Hamburg, in Policoro (Italy) and in Bar (Ukraine), around 250 kilometers west of Kiev. The fruit juice producer has a total of 13 subsidiaries in Europe and supplies over 80 countries worldwide. Of the approximately 1,000 employees, around 500 work in Austria.