BlueTree, an Israeli start-up that has developed a technology for reducing sugar in natural juices, has joined forces with international supplier of natural ingredients and compounds Prodalim. The two companies have signed an agreement for the future sales of 100 million liters of 100 percent natural squeezed orange juice with reduced sugar.
Prodalim and BlueTree team will lead the commercialization of BlueTree products.
BlueTree, a portfolio company of Fresh-Start Food-Tech incubator (in partnership with Tnuva, Tempo, OurCrowd, Finistere Ventures), has developed a technology for physical-selective (natural) reduction of sugar from natural liquids.
The technology is designed to be installed in juice squeezing plants as another stage after the squeezing process.
The company operates in Kiryat Shmona as part of the Israeli Ministry of Economy’s strategic plan to turn the north of the country into the Israeli food-tech valley.
“Together with Prodalim, we will bring the world the next generation of natural orange juice, reduced in sugar, and healthy and delicious,” says Yuval Klein, CEO of BlueTree.
Tsahi Berezovsky, CEO of Prodalim, adds: “From the first moment, we were extremely excited with the technology and the quality of the products that BlueTree can bring to the world. We are certain that by joining forces and leveraging on our global juice and innovation platform, we can make a real impact on the industry.”
Moves in the juice market
This distribution deal closely follows PepsiCo slimming down its juice portfolio, having newly inked a deal to sell Tropicana, Naked and other select juice brands across North America to French private equity firm PAI Partners.
It also comes amid innovation within the juice and soft drinks market mainly focused on reducing sugar.
The soft drinks industry is poised to slash added sugar by 10 percent in Europe as the industry sets a new target for 2025.
