US blackcurrant juice drink CurrantC was launched at the recent Produce Marketing Association (PMA) summit held in Orlando, Florida.

The juice has been re-formulated and sweetened with agave instead of sugar, raising its health credentials even further. The original blackcurrant flavour is also now joined by Strawberry & Kiwi, Passionfruit, Boysenberry, Clementine and Blueberry, all blended with blackcurrant.

Grower and juice manufacturer Greg Quinn was at the show with his children Ryan and Katie who, along with their sister Keri, make up the family portion of the company.

But Quinn had more than a few hurdles to overcome to get his new juice drink to market - he had to campaign to have a whole law overturned.

Blackcurrants were outlawed nationwide by an act of the US Congress in 1911. The law was shifted to individual states’ jurisdiction in the 1960s and Quinn was able to prove that the basis for the original science behind the law was flawed.

At the time, it was thought that blackcurrant bushes vectored the white pine blister rust fungus fatal to the valuable pine trees destined for the paper and building industries. By the relatively simple expedient of selecting varieties that are resistant to the disease, along with an intensive lobbying effort, Quinn was successful in getting the New York State law changed in April 2003.

He has since helped several other states follow suit and now blackcurrants may be legally grown in all but five states with suitable planting zones.

Quinn then founded The Currant Company, LLC and the first variety he grew commercially was Titania, obtained from Canada. This cultivar was identified as suitable for the Hudson Valley climate and crucially it was resistant to white pine blister rust.

Quinn now holds the importation, propagation and distribution rights to a selection of new Polish varieties developed by Dr Stanislaw Pluta of the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture in Skierniewice. The total crop size of blackcurrants in the US remains small, at under 500 acres,

The first stage of introducing blackcurrants to the US was the development of a line of blackcurrant-based beverages trademarked under the brand CurrantC. Sourcing concentrate from the limited US production as well as Europe and New Zealand, the first offering, CurrantC™ All Natural Black Currant Nectar, was created.

This beverage, with high levels of vitamin C, the right level of sugar, good ‘mouth feel’ and very high levels of fruit, was designed to fit into the burgeoning high-end, refrigerated health juice category. After only three years of marketing the drink is already in 4,500 stores all over the East Coast of the US.

Topics