KEAN juices big in China

Drink exports to the economic superpower driving growth

KEAN is an ever present in the HORECA sector for juices and soft drinks in traditional Cyprus coffeeshops to five-star hotels, but China has also grown a taste for it.

Cypriots are not the only ones enjoying a refreshing juice or squash as the Chinese are crazy for KEAN’s products, with EUR 5 mln in juice drinks exported to China last year.

Celebrating more than seven decades in the industry, KEAN has recently announced its products are consumed in more than 50 countries across five continents.

In comments to the Financial Mirror, KEAN’s exports manager Andreas Ergatoudes, said the company sees its juices and squash exported to 52 countries, with China the number one destination.

He said that 25% of the company’s EUR 40 mln operation cycle is related to exports of juices in TetraPak, juice concentrates, soft drinks and squashes from citrus fruits to the EU and third countries.

“Half of our EUR 10 mln worth of exports last year were bound for China, where the market has been particularly welcoming towards our juices and juice concentrates,” said Ergatoudes.

“The Chinese absolutely love our juices. It is the driving force behind our export growth in recent years and we expect to see this trend grow.

He added that the whole continent of Asia is KEAN’s stronghold, as exports reach countries such as Korea, Singapore, and Thailand.

The company’s flagship fruit drink, KEANITA, has not yet been tested in the market, as the Chinese do not have a taste for fruit drinks in general.

“KEANITA is actually turning 40 years old this year, and one of our targets is to test the waters with our new one-litre KEANITA packages to be ready for export in the coming months.”

The KEAN brand can be found in Africa, in countries like Ghana and Kenya. In South America, in Europe, with exports heading mainly for the Netherlands and Denmark.

“The UK is a small although traditional market, which has been steady over the past couple of decades, with products worth EUR 250,000 being exported every year.”

Exports have been growing for a decade, as 2021 will be the ninth consecutive year the firm will see export growth.

“Between 2015 to 2017 we saw our exports grow on a year-to-year basis from 14% to 18% in 2017.

“In 2018 we saw our exports growth slow to just 0.5%, making us think that we may have reached saturation.”

But exports made a comeback growing by a whopping 11% in 2019.

“COVID did have an impact on our exports, but not enough to stop our growth.”

The juice makers’ exports grew by 1% in 2020.

In 2021 exports are set to grow by 3%, despite adverse conditions created by the pandemic.

“The only harm COVID has inflected on us, is that it has kept us from carrying out face-to-face meetings with our clients.”

Commenting on a supply crisis caused by the increase in the cost of containers from China, Ergatoudes said: “Luckily our exports are not affected by the increase of shipping costs.

“The cost of bringing a container from Asia to Cyprus has skyrocketed from EUR 1,500 to somewhere close to EUR 18,000, but this does not affect us as we are not importing from China.”

The increase of container costs, mainly concerns exports from China. The majority of containers return empty to the country, which brings down the cost of hiring a container to a few hundred euros.

Ergatoudes said that KEAN with its long-term export strategy and portfolio that includes 76 top-quality products in state-of-the-art packaging with modern design, has the potential to operate well beyond the island’s boundaries.

“That is exactly what we plan to do. Cyprus is a small market and has reached saturation”.

Prospects for KEAN and Cyprus’ juice industry for exports, especially in the Far East are vast, and that’s where the company will be focusing in the years to come.

Locally, KEAN is aiming to hold on to its 26%, and 35% market shares of local juices and citrus fruits-based soft drinks.

In recent years the company has enhanced its presence in the hote;-restaurant-catering (HORECA) industry by importing brands such as Heinz/Kraft, HP, L&P, Amoy, Vitalia, Farley’s, Calvo (tuna and salads), Go Tan (noodles and sauces), Pellito Nuts and other food products.