I tried 16 different orange juices – this one is the best
From Tropicana to M&S and Lidl, a breakfast buffet of juices are put to the test – but which is best value for money?
That simple breakfast glass of orange juice is big business. Over half the oranges grown commercially on the planet wind up being pressed for juice, and nine glasses out of 10 are drunk in Europe and the US.
It was only in the 20th century that the fashion for drinking orange juice for breakfast took off, after a glut in orange production in Florida and California led to producers looking for a way to increase demand. Persuading us that a glass of juice, containing not one but two or more oranges, was a healthy way to start the day was a no-brainer from a sales point of view.
These days, there’s a major question mark over the health benefits of juice: orange juice can have more than 10g of sugar per 100ml, while cola typically has 9g. Susan Jebb, now head of the Food Standards Agency, has gone on record to say that she doesn’t think it should count as one of your five-a-day fruit and vegetable quota. “Swap it and have a piece of real fruit. If you are going to drink it, you should dilute it,” was her advice.
Oh dear. For many of us, breakfast just doesn’t taste right without a glass of orange juice. On the upside, it is, even in processed form, a decent source of vitamin C: humans, unusually for mammals, lack the enzyme to convert glucose to vitamin C. And if we are going to treat ourselves, there’s plenty of choice in the supermarket.
Of the three main kinds of orange juice available, the cheapest is “from concentrate” – juice that has been concentrated by evaporating out the water with a combination of heat and low pressure. It comes either “ambient”, in brick-shaped cartons that last for months at room temperature, or as a chilled juice that still keeps three months or more in the fridge.
The ambient (not chilled) juice has been processed at a higher temperature, and is more expensive than the chilled-from-concentrate juice – as much as 33 per cent more in the case of Sainsbury’s, which charges 75p for one litre of the chilled from-concentrate juice and £1 for a litre of the ambient juice.
The next step up is “not-from-concentrate” juice, which comes in a carton or plastic bottle. This usually proclaims itself as “never from concentrate” (as if other brands might occasionally slip in a naughty bit of boiled-down juice) and “100 per cent pressed juice”. What it won’t say is “freshly” or “fresh”. It will have been pasteurised, and the shelf life is similar to the chilled from-concentrate juice. It has probably been frozen at some point, and stored in tanks where the oxygen is removed, to extend its life, and blended with juices from around the world to make a consistent flavour. Prices range from around £1.25 a litre to £2.75 for 900ml.
Top of the OJ tree, and the most expensive, is the “freshly pressed” or “freshly squeezed”, in a plastic bottle and with a shelf life of a couple of weeks. It’s not the same as juice you’ve squeezed for yourself, though, as it will generally have been pasteurised, too. According to an industry expert, “freshly squeezed refers to the proximity of the squeezing operation to bottling and the total shelf life of the product”. Prices range from £2.19 per litre (Aldi) to £4 for 750ml (£5.33 per litre) from Daylesford via Ocado.
What about actual, real freshly squeezed at home juice? Tesco proudly proclaims that one litre of its OJ contains the juice of 15 oranges. They must be very small oranges. Based on my own (not scientific) experiment, a medium (200g) orange yields about 95ml of juice – plus the peels, which can be dried out on the radiator making the house smell gorgeous. But I digress. At 25p per orange from my greengrocer, that works out at about £2.65 a litre – cheaper than buying “freshly squeezed”.
It tastes different, too. The supermarket freshly squeezed is more sour, with a strong bitter zestiness. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s a long way from the gentle, sweet fruitiness of the juice I made at home. This will be down in part to the higher acidity of the oranges used industrially for pressing, and also the mechanical process, which extracts more from the rind than my hand squeezer. But according to Squeezed by Alissa Hamilton (£14.99, Yale University Press) it’s also probably a function of “flavour packs” – orange extract that is added back into orange juice after processing to make up for volatile flavours which have gone missing in action.
Back to regular shop-bought juice, whose distinctive taste many people prefer. A 150ml glass of breakfast juice (the amount that equates to one of your five a day) can cost anything from 11p to 46p, even before you venture into the heights of freshly squeezed. Quite a difference in cost, but how about flavour? I tasted my way through 16 of the from-concentrate and not-from-concentrate juices from the supermarket chiller cabinet to find out, with a “freshly squeezed” and a home squeezed to compare.
Superficially, there’s little to differentiate them, as all claim to be 100 per cent juice. If you are keen on green credentials, then opt for cartons over plastic bottles, as the overall footprint is lower according to the experts at ethicalconsumer.org.
Not all juices promise that they are vegan – presumably down to the waxy coating on the fruit which can be made from shellac, an insect product – so you may wish to factor that in, too. As for the flavours, they are anything but the same. It might be pure, but orange juice is far from simple.
The value-for-money taste test
From concentrate
Aldi The Juice Company Smooth From Concentrate
75p for 1 litre (7.5p/100ml)
It may be the cheapest but it’s thin and tastes cooked, with a dismal flavour reminiscent of cheap hotel buffet
breakfasts. Plastic bottle.
Lidl Naturis From Concentrate Smooth
89p for 1 litre (8.9p/100ml)
Thin consistency with the flavour of orange gummies, though not unpleasant. Hard to imagine this was ever
related to an actual fruit. Plastic bottle.
Asda Just Essentials Orange Juice from Concentrate
85p for 1 litre (8.5p/100ml)
The juice looks a bit… basic next to the Tesco version at a lower price. It tastes mild and inoffensive. Carton.
Morrisons Orange Juice From Concentrate With Juicy Bits
99p for 1 litre (9.9p/100ml)
Cooked taste but the bits are pleasant. Carton.
Essential Waitrose Smooth Orange Juice From Concentrate
£1.10 for 1 litre (11p/100ml)
A very punchy sweet-sour flavour that’s comparable to Tropicana. A good-value swap for the big brand juice. Contains 10g sugar/100ml. Carton.
Tesco Grower’s Harvest Orange Juice With Bits
75p for 1 litre (7.5p/100ml)
Chilled juice with a distinct marmalade bitterness, tasting of Seville oranges. One for marmalade lovers, though it has one of the highest sugar levels at 10.5g/100ml. Carton.
Not from concentrate
Tropicana Original Orange Juice Not From Concentrate
widely available, around £2.75 for 900ml (price at Sainsbury’s)
Tastes cooked with a syrupy texture and a heavy orange zest “flavour”. Not at all fresh tasting. Terrible value. Vegan. Carton.
Morrisons Pure Squeezed Orange Juice With Bits
£1.49 for 1 litre (14.9p/100ml)
Oddly processed-tasting, the texture too thin and the taste very bitter. Not good. Carton.
Sainsbury’s 100% Squeezed Orange Juice With Bits
£1.70 for 1 litre (17p/100ml)
Has a lighter flavour than Tropicana, with a strong note of bitter peel. Carton.
Waitrose Orange Juice With Bits
£2.95 for 1.75 litres (16.9p/100ml)
An inoffensive juice with a mild and well-balanced flavour. Carton. Vegan.
Tesco Orange Juice With Bits
£1.70 for 1 litre (17p/100ml)
Slightly cooked flavour but delivers a decent balance. Plastic bottle.
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice With Bits
£3.10 for 1 litre (31p/100ml)
A chilled bottle, its contents zesty and sharp, delivering a “big” flavour, but at a hefty price. Not good value for money. Plastic bottle.
Lidl Naturis Not From Concentrate Orange Juice With Juicy Bits
£1.25 for 1 litre (12.5p/100ml)
A good flavour with well-balanced sweetness. The label states the bottle is made from 50 per cent recycled plastic.
Vegan.
Aldi The Juice Company Not From Concentrate Orange Juice With Bits
£1.25 for 1 litre (12.5p/100ml)
Quite sweet, with an almost floral quality, but slightly confected. A mandarin flavour which could be divisive, but tastes good quality. Bottle made from 45 per cent recycled plastic.
Asda Not From Concentrate Orange Juice With Bits
£1.70 for 1 litre (17p/100ml)
The flavour is nice and gentle, mild and pleasant in a way that is reminiscent of actual fresh orange juice.
Plastic bottle.
M&S Food Pure Squeezed Orange Juice With Bits
£1.95 for 1 litre (19.5p/100ml)
A yellow-hued juice much fresher tasting than its competitors; not too sweet. Best of the Not From Concentrate juices tried. Carton.