Juice

The first decision is concentrate or ready-to-drink, and it is mostly a freight decision. Shipping finished juice means shipping water, which rarely survives the arithmetic against local bottling. Concentrate shipped to a destination bottler is the route that usually works.

Where ready-to-drink is justified, it is on brand and premium positioning rather than price.

Specify brix, acidity, clarified or cloudy, and any added ingredients. Cranberry in particular is frequently sweetened or blended, and the formulation determines both the claims available and the destination's category treatment. Nutrition and health claims should be checked against destination rules before artwork.

One further variable worth settling early is whether the product is positioned as juice, nectar or a juice drink. Those are defined categories in most destination frameworks with minimum juice content thresholds attached, and the category determines both what the label may say and, frequently, how the product is treated at the border. Deciding it after formulation means reformulating.