The bright, refreshing taste of citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and limes are among the most popular for flavored drinks, confections, and foods such as bakery goods.

Identifying the exact varietal of a citrus fruit can be challenging, in part because of “messy genetics,” acknowledges Dr. Melinda Klein, chief research scientist at the Citrus Research Board in Visalia, California.

That’s where marketing comes in, although sometimes what’s supposed to make it easier for the consumer sometimes just adds to the confusion.

Mandarins and Tangerines are a perfect example.

A mandarin is a “basic biological species,” explains Dr. Tracy Kahn, Botany & Plant Sciences at University of California Riverside. And, tangerines are a type of mandarin.

So, while a tangerine is technically a mandarin, not all mandarins are tangerines.

Mead is an alcoholic beverage made from three simple ingredients: water, honey and yeast. Although it’s one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages, a new generation of consumers is discovering mead anew as they look beyond traditional beer and wine for something unique and different.

According to Andrzej Wilk Jr., general manager and production manager of Orchid Cellar Meadery and Winery in Middeletown, Maryland, “People are becoming more interested in mead and they are seeking us out. It’s definitely a growing segment in the alcohol industry.”

The gluten-free movement is also driving the growing popularity of mead, added Wilk. Not only are meads gluten-free, but grain-free, too.

The aluminum can shortage impacting the U.S. beverage market shows no signs of abating. However, major manufacturers such as Ball Corporation are increasing capacity as quickly as possible while some beer makers are reinstating bottling lines or finding creative solutions to maintain supply to customers.

Last year’s abrupt restrictions on in-person dining and drinking caused demand for packaged beverages, including canned beer, hard seltzers and soft drinks, to spike sharply.

Prior to the pandemic, consumers were already gravitating towards canned beverages due to their sustainability attributes, lighter weight and easy portability—features that are likewise attractive from a logistics and shipping perspective, especially with the added advantages of cans being less fragile than glass and easier to load more densely into a truck trailer or shipping container.

The re-opening of restaurants and bars is a welcomed development following the hardships brought on by the pandemic. Yet, many establishments across the U.S. are finding it difficult to attract and maintain adequate staffing.

Similar to the automation boom that has accelerated over the past 18 months in the warehouse sector, interest in automated self-pour systems is growing in the restaurant and hospitality sectors.

Self-pour beverage system provider PourMyBeer launched in 2015, and now boasts 8,000 taps in 24 countries.

Many processed fruit suppliers to the beer industry, whether they’re selling orange juice or mango puree, tend to call all of their products puree. However, outside of the beer industry, most beverage and food manufacturers tend to categorize processed fruit as purees or juices.

Some processed fruit industry participants would argue that fruits such as orange, grapefruit, lime, lemon, mandarin, blood orange, and passion fruit, should all be classified as juices since the product is squeezed. Notably, many of these are citrus fruits. The people in this camp would take the position that there’s no such thing as “orange puree” or “lime puree.”