| Marketing relationship B2B | Products Fruit preparations, fruit juice concentrates, not-from-concentrate juices, fruit wines, natural flavours and beverage bases | Raw materials processed Primarily various fruits (including strawberries as the leading raw material for fruit preparations, and apples and berries for fruit juice concentrates), as well as other agricultural raw materials |
| Key markets Marketed worldwide (with 36 production sites) Global market leader in the production of fruit preparations and the world’s leading producer (and supplier) of apple and berry juice concentrates. |
Customers Dairy, ice cream, bakery, food service and beverage industries | Special strengths Custom-designed, innovative products |
In the Food & Beverage Solutions (FBS) segment, revenue in the 2025|26 financial year edged up from the year-ago level to € 1,647.8 million. While revenue rose slightly in the formulation activities for price reasons, it decreased moderately in the beverage business amid lower volume. The FBS segment generated 50.9% of the Group’s revenue (previous year: 46.4%).
The segment’s EBIT was € 103.3 million (previous year: € 99.7 million). As in the prior year, EBIT in 2025|26 reflected exceptional items related to reorganisation, which amounted to a net charge of € 1.3 million in the year under review (previous year: net exceptional items gain of € 2.0 million). In formulations, operating profit before exceptional items was slightly above the year-ago level. The improvement was attributable mainly to a positive business performance in the Europe region (which includes Ukraine) and in North and South America. On the beverage side, thanks to high contribution margins on apple juice concentrate from the 2024 harvest, operating profit before exceptional items nearly matched the good prior-year result.
Further details on the results of the FBS business area are provided in the segment report in the full version of the annual report.
The troubled global economic situation and multiple geopolitical crises are dampening the market trend for fruit yoghurts (which constitute the main market for the products of the formulation business). Analyses by Euromonitor in March 2026 showed a positive volume growth rate of 1.9% for the global market for the 2025 calendar year compared with 2024. While the size of the fruit yoghurt market decreased in Asia (–1.1% p.a.), volumes increased in North America (+4.2% p.a.), Western Europe (+0.8% p.a.), Eastern Europe (+1.4% p.a.) and Latin America (+1.2% p.a.). A similar market situation globally is expected for the 2026 calendar year, with growth of 1.4% relative to 2025. Average annual volume growth of 1.3% in the subsequent years is forecast to the end of 2030. The niche category of plant-based yoghurt alternatives saw volume growth of 2.5% in the 2025 calendar year. This market segment is expected to grow at an average rate of 3.1% per year up to and including 2030.
Besides yoghurt, the main market segments significant to the diversification of the formulation activities are ice cream and food service. According to Euromonitor (as of March 2026), the global ice cream market volume expanded by a slight 1.5% in the 2025 calendar year and is projected to accelerate somewhat to a growth rate of 1.9% in 2026. Average annual volume growth of 1.9% is then expected for the remaining period to 2030. In the food service segment, the most important markets served by AGRANA are quick service restaurants (QSR) and coffee & tea shops. Current forecasts from GlobalData predict a positive volume trend in these subsegments to 2030, with average annual growth of 3.4% for QSR and 3.5% for coffee & tea shops.
The market environment for fruit preparations is shaped by consumer trends in the global markets for dairy products, ice cream and food service. Health is clearly the main focus here, followed by pleasure and the desire for appealing product and taste experiences. Naturalness, affordability and sustainability complement these key drivers. Consumers are reacting to ongoing external crises by focusing more on their own well-being. They are looking for the comfort of the familiar and for functional added value, as well as small, affordable moments of enjoyment that offer variety and emotional relief. In the food service space in particular, this is leading to a steady increase in creative and specialised beverage concepts. Consumers in this sector are increasingly willing to pay premium prices for unique beverage experiences. Food service is therefore an important and growing market for AGRANA in the Food & Beverage Solutions segment, complementing the retail product market.
The global beverage market is undergoing structural change, with its growth increasingly driven by value per unit rather than by volume. Changed consumer expectations and the growing importance of functional qualities are reducing growth momentum in classic, high-sugar product categories. Overall, the market is clearly shifting towards “better for you” innovations, higher pricing and a stronger focus on higher-value products, as well as functional value added, instead of pure volume expansion.
AUSTRIA JUICE brings these trends together in three strategic focus areas: Functionality, natural energy, and mindful choices. Beverages here are evolving from pure refreshments into targeted problem-solving products: they offer functional added benefits (e.g., proteins, gut health, or GLP-1-compatible concepts for users of such weight-loss medications), support performance through natural ingredients, and enable conscious consumer choices regarding health, sustainability and origin. The resulting drinks increasingly blur the lines between pleasure, nutrition and well-being.
In the core beverage business (primarily apple juice concentrates), market prices for the company's products in 2025 after the year’s apple harvest were generally lower than the exceptionally high prices recorded in 2024. The uncertain market environment (including consumer behaviour and customs issues) led to a cautious approach to procurement, with customers generally contracting for only part of their annual requirements.
The value-added business continued to perform very well. Both sales volume and revenue increased, and contribution margins were higher than in the previous year.
In 2025|26, about 360,000 tonnes of raw materials were purchased for the formulation activities (previous year: 359,000 tonnes). The average raw material prices for fruits and ingredients remained stable year-on-year.
The global requirement of approximately 57,000 tonnes of strawberries, the most important fruit by volume in the formulation business, was contracted at prices in line with the year before. At the end of the fourth calendar quarter, harvesting began in the growing regions with a Mediterranean climate – Egypt, Morocco and Mexico. Raw material prices are expected to rise in Mexico, while in Egypt, normal raw material availability and stable to slightly declining prices are projected due to an expansion in crop production area.
Peaches accounted for the second-highest processing volume in the production of formulations, at about 17,000 tonnes. Purchase prices in the main sourcing markets – Spain, Greece and China – were slightly lower overall than one year earlier.
For sour cherries, raspberries and wild blueberries, crop yields fell short of expectations for weather reasons. As a result, purchase prices rose significantly from the previous year’s, especially for wild blueberries.
In tropical fruits, the required volumes of mangoes from India and Vietnam were procured at prices below the year-earlier level. Purchase prices for pineapples, on the other hand, were up from the year before due to unfavourable weather conditions and the resulting lower availability.
In the beverage business, apple availability in the EU in 2025 was below the longer-term average, particularly as a result of frost-related crop losses in Hungary. At the same time, the volume of apples available in Poland (the country whose production determines prices) was significantly higher than in the previous year, enabling AUSTRIA JUICE to maintain its apple processing volume at the previous year’s level; apple prices meanwhile were significantly lower. In Hungary, the local shortages of apples led to a tangible drop in capacity utilisation in apple processing, resulting in idle-capacity costs. The 2025 berry juice processing season ended in early September; here too, the availability of raw materials was below average.
Capital expenditure in the FBS segment in 2025|26 totalled € 64.0 million (previous year: € 52.0 million). Investments went to various projects across all 36 production sites, with a particular focus on capacity expansion, energy savings, safety upgrades and the food service strategy. The following individual investments were made, among others:
The FBS segment’s share of the Group’s total investment was 62.2%.
