Summer gives rise to 60% jump in sale of fruit juices

BENGALURU: Fruit juice vendors across the city are doing brisk business with an increase of over 60 per cent in their sales compared to winters. Thanks to the city’s temperature soaring up to 37 degree celsius, several vendors that City Express spoke to say they attend to at least 300 customers in a day compared to 120 customers during the winter. The rate of a glass of fruit juice varies from `20 to `60 depending on what the customers order. 

The most preferred fruit juices, according to the vendors, are watermelon, musk melon, mosambi (Sweet lemon), lemon juice and cold ragi milkshakes. “I sell at least 300 to 350 cups of juice every day. Also, the prices of fruits will increase in the next few weeks. Now, I buy 20 kgs of mosambi for `700 but this may go up to `2,000 in the next few months. The price is set according to the quality of the fruits we buy from the market. The A grade fruits are sold at higher prices. Also, one should always buy from a shop where there is an open kitchen and you can see them picking out fruits and grinding them,” said Krishna Murthy, a juice vendor near RT Nagar. He also mentioned that they are expecting high sales during the Ramzan fasting season. 

Vendors add that children prefer Oreo, Snickers and chocolate milkshakes. “The age group of 5 to 16 prefer milkshakes with either chocolate or ice cream in them. They like it when we decorate the cups with chocolate sauce and sprinkles. We come up with new ideas every summer to present the drinks better and keep customers interested. Also, we bring out new combinations every year for better sales,” said Ganesh, a juice vendor in Ganga Nagar.

Not just fruit juice or milkshakes, health-conscious people are switching to vegetable juices such as carrot, pudina, gooseberries and beetroot for the summer. Juice centres located next to gymnasiums are making huge profits. “I see almost 500 customers a day. Over the past few years, people have become health conscious and prefer fresh fruit juices instead of fizzy drinks. Also, they prefer their juice plain without any sugar. Watermelon and carrot juice are at the highest demand as they help in weight loss” said Sunderesh, a juice vendor near Sultan Palya.

Most citizens follow a tight work schedule with no proper meal timings and prefer to drink a glass of juice to keep their stomachs full. “I drink carrot and beetroot juice almost every day. It helps in detoxification. Also, summer is the best time to lose weight and drinking fruit juices helps a lot,” said Neha Sharma, an IT professional.