Gifted Benefit Juice sent us these to try, free of charge. No money changed hands — our verdict is our own.
Benefit Juice has relaunched its range with new packaging, two reworked recipes and a bit more going on nutritionally than before. Two of the three cartons turned up for us to try: Enrich and Vitality, which are the pair that have actually changed. Here is what is in them, and what we made of them.
What is actually in them
The headline change is fibre and vitamin D. Benefit Juice says a 150ml glass now carries 6g of fibre and the full recommended daily amount of vitamin D, alongside vitamins C, E and K, folate, potassium and beta-carotene, the last few occurring naturally in the fruit and veg rather than being added.
Fibre is the number worth pausing on. Juice has historically been the part of the fruit that gets the sugar and leaves the fibre behind, so 6g a glass is a genuine point of difference rather than marketing gloss. Most of us in this sport are better at hitting protein than we are at hitting fibre.
The three juices
Enrich: carrot, mango and ginger
New for the relaunch, and the pick of the three for us. The carrot leads, the mango softens it, and the ginger sits far enough back that it warms the finish without taking the whole thing over. If you have ever bought a ginger juice that scoured your throat on the way down, this is not that.
Vitality: beetroot, raspberry and grape
Also new, and the one we did not get on with. That is worth saying plainly, because we normally like beetroot. Roasted, pickled, in a salad, all fine. Here the raspberry and grape push it sweet, and the earthiness underneath does not quite settle with it.
Your mileage may genuinely vary on this one. Beetroot juice divides people more than almost anything else on a supermarket shelf, and it has a loyal following among endurance athletes in particular. If you already drink it, the fibre and vitamin D here make this a reasonable one to switch to. If you have never liked it, this will not be the carton that converts you.
Cleanse: pure prune juice
The third juice in the range, and the one that has not changed. Same pure prune juice, same flavour profile, new look on the outside, and it comes both as concentrate and not-from-concentrate. We were not sent this one, so there is no verdict from us either way. If you already buy prune juice you know exactly what you are getting and why.
Worth a place in the fridge?
One out of two on the new flavours, which is about par for any relaunch. Enrich we would buy again. Vitality was not for us, though we would not talk anyone out of it who already likes beetroot.
None of this is a substitute for eating actual vegetables, and nobody at Benefit Juice is claiming otherwise. But as a way of getting some fibre and vitamin D into a day that got away from you, it is a sensible enough thing to have in the door of the fridge.
The new flavours and packaging are available this month, online and in Waitrose.
