About Flüssiges Obst

Flüssiges Obst

Flüssiges Obst is a German monthly specialist journal for the fruit-juice industry, published by confructa medien. Appearing monthly and reaching its 91st volume year in 2024, the magazine serves the fruit-juice industry, the vegetable-juice industry, the fruit-wine industry, the manufacturers of fruit-juice-containing beverages and the fruit and vegetable processing sector. It is complemented by the English-language sister journal Fruit Processing and the digital portal fluessiges-obst.de, which carries industry news, issue previews and an online shop for single issues and subscriptions.

Overview

Flüssiges Obst is the trade journal of the German-speaking juice business: the monthly magazine for everyone who produces, processes, bottles and markets fruit juice, vegetable juice, fruit wine and fruit-juice beverages. Its readership spans the industry's full structure – juice producers and bottlers, concentrate and semi-finished-goods suppliers, machinery and technology providers, packaging companies, and the associations that represent the sector, above all the Verband der deutschen Fruchtsaft-Industrie (VdF).

Each monthly issue combines industry news with technical articles: current developments from companies, products and markets; specialist contributions on production technology – from ultrasonic deposit reduction in bottle washers to hygienic sensor technology, homogenizers and worker-assistance systems; association news from the VdF and its working groups; and the business-contact and semi-finished-goods price listings that serve the industry's daily commerce. The magazine's subtitle defines its territory precisely: the specialist journal for the fruit-juice industry, the vegetable-juice industry, the fruit-wine industry, for the manufacturers of fruit-juice-containing beverages and for fruit and vegetable processing.

With its 91st volume year reached in 2024, Flüssiges Obst is one of the longest-running food-industry journals in Germany – a publication that has accompanied the juice industry through nine decades of technological, economic and regulatory change. The English-language sister journal Fruit Processing extends the brand's reach into the international juice business, while the portal fluessiges-obst.de serves the daily information needs between print issues.

The industry the magazine serves is a substantial one: Germany is among the world's leading juice-consuming nations, and the German fruit-juice industry – organized in the VdF, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2026 – is a significant branch of the food economy. The magazine's role as the industry's forum, technical reference and business medium has grown with the industry's complexity: food safety, sustainability, digitalization, energy efficiency and changing consumer habits all shape the agenda.

History

Flüssiges Obst was founded in the early 1930s – the 91st volume year in 2024 points to a founding around 1933/34 – as the specialist journal of the emerging German fruit-juice industry. In an era when fruit-juice production was developing from a craft into an industry, the magazine provided the technical and commercial forum the young sector needed: production knowledge, market information and a common professional identity.

Over the following decades the journal accompanied the industry through war and reconstruction, through the economic miracle and the rise of industrial juice production, through the introduction of new packaging systems, new processing technologies and new product categories – from traditional apple juice to multivitamin juices, smoothies and functional beverages. The magazine documented every phase of this development, building an archive of industry knowledge that spans nine decades.

The publisher, confructa medien, developed the brand into a media family: the German-language monthly Flüssiges Obst as the core title, the English-language Fruit Processing as the international sister journal, and the digital portal fluessiges-obst.de as the daily news channel. This structure reflects the internationalization of the juice business, in which German technology and know-how are exported worldwide and international suppliers serve the German market.

The magazine's close relationship with the Verband der deutschen Fruchtsaft-Industrie (VdF) has been a constant: the association's annual conference, its working groups – including the "Junge Führungskräfte" (young executives) group with its study trips to citrus-growing regions – and its industry initiatives are regular coverage, making the magazine the chronicler of the organized juice industry. The VdF's 75th anniversary in 2026, celebrated at the association's annual conference in Bonn's former plenary hall, was a milestone the magazine covered as the industry's own medium.

Content and Sections

Each issue of Flüssiges Obst is structured around the industry's information needs. The "Aktuelles" (current affairs) section reports on companies, products and markets: new products and investments, company anniversaries and successions, personnel changes, market developments and association news. Recent issues have covered the VdF's annual conference and its 75th anniversary, digital assistance systems for the beverage industry, new homogenizer series for small and medium production capacities, contactless hygienic temperature sensors, and the NIS2 cybersecurity directive's implications for the juice and beverage industry.

The "Fachbeiträge" (technical articles) form the editorial core: specialist contributions on production technology, quality assurance, hygiene, energy efficiency and sustainability. Topics range from ultrasonic technology for reducing deposits in machinery to the practical experiences of bottlers with resource efficiency – the technical depth that distinguishes a specialist journal from general industry reporting.

Regular service elements include the "Geschäftskontakte" (business contacts) and the "Halbware-Preisnotierungen" (semi-finished-goods price listings) – the market-data services that make the magazine a working tool for its readers' daily business. These listings connect buyers and sellers across the industry's supply chains, from concentrates and purees to machinery and services.

Special issues and trade fair coverage are integral: the magazine publishes specials around the industry's leading events – including the BrauBeviale in Nuremberg, where the journal distributes its issues and offers exhibitors a trade fair package combining print advertising, press releases on the portal's homepage, placement in the fair preview and banner advertising. The English-language sister journal Fruit Processing serves the international audience with parallel coverage.

Training and education are another pillar: the magazine and its publisher organize and promote industry courses – from the introductory course on fruit-juice production for newcomers, career changers and commercial staff to specialist seminars on sensory evaluation and marketing – reflecting the journal's role in the industry's professional development.

Publisher and Organization

Flüssiges Obst is published by confructa medien, the specialist media house for the fruit-juice and beverage industry. The publisher operates the German-language monthly Flüssiges Obst, the English-language Fruit Processing, and the digital portals fluessiges-obst.de and fruitprocessing.com – a focused media family serving the juice industry in its own languages and channels.

The publisher's program extends beyond the magazines into industry services: the online shop for single issues and subscriptions, the subscriber login area for downloading current issues, the training courses organized with partners such as the Doemens Academy, and the trade fair packages that connect advertisers with the industry's exhibition calendar. This integration of publishing, training and event services is characteristic of the focused specialist publisher that serves a single industry across all its information needs.

The close cooperation with the Verband der deutschen Fruchtsaft-Industrie (VdF) – the association of the German fruit-juice industry, based in Bonn – gives the magazine its institutional anchoring: the association's conferences, working groups and initiatives are the industry's organizational backbone, and the magazine is their journalistic counterpart.

Digital Presence

The digital home of Flüssiges Obst is the portal fluessiges-obst.de, which extends the monthly magazine into daily industry coverage. The site publishes industry news, previews of current issues with their monthly topics, and the online shop where subscribers can download the latest issue in the login area and where single issues are available for purchase. The English-language sister portal fruitprocessing.com serves the international readership.

The portal's media data has documented a substantial online audience – averaging around 29,000 visitors per month in 2020 – reflecting the magazine's position as the digital reference of the juice industry. Press releases from exhibitors appear exclusively on the portals' homepages and are linked via social media, extending the trade fair business into the digital channels.

The digital editions of the print magazine make each monthly issue available to subscribers in electronic form, complementing the print circulation – which the 2020 media data documented at around 4,700 copies for a September issue and 2,000 for an October issue. The combination of print depth, portal timeliness and digital editions serves the industry's professionals in the formats they use: the magazine for reference, the portal for news, the e-paper for mobile reading.

With nine decades of publication history, a monthly print journal, an English-language sister title, a daily-updated portal and its role as the chronicler of the VdF and the German juice industry, Flüssiges Obst remains the central specialist medium of the liquid fruit business – the journal that documents the industry's technology, markets and people, from the orchard to the bottle.