Why is cold pressed better for you?
While we’ll always advocate that fresh fruit is best, when it is out of season (like we are now) and you’re looking for the next best thing, juice may just be that thing that gets you over the line. Thing is, not all juices are created equal. This blog explains the key health differences between cold-pressed juice and the processed juices that sit on shelves for months at a time.
Cold pressed juice vs processed juice
As the name suggests, it’s the heat, or lack of, during the juicing process that makes the difference. Unlike juices made using centrifugal force (fast-spinning mechanical blades), cold pressing uses a hydraulic press to crush and press fruit slowly without the heat or friction. This gentler method reduces oxidation and helps retain more of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants found naturally in the fruit.
The way juice manufacturers choose to manage eliminating micro-organisms also dictates how much heat is applied, impacting taste, nutrients and shelf life. Processed juices that go through the pasteurisation process use heat to kill off micro-organisms. And while this improves shelf life, an important factor in mass produced and commercially sold products, it also degrades the flavour, colour and nutrients of the juice. The difference is noticeable enough for many commercial juice companies to add artificial colours, vitamins, and flavours back into their product.
Seems counter-productive, right?
Especially when you can extend shelf life AND preserve the good stuff in juice using high pressure processing.
High Pressure Processing (HPP) is a method that uses cold water and extremely high pressure to break down bacterial cell membranes and eliminate harmful microbes, all without heat. It’s a method commonly used with cold-pressed juice, especially where shelf life is required. While HPP doesn’t have the same eextended shelf life as heat pasteurisation, it does significantly extend freshness, making it possible for businesses to produce and sell cold-pressed juice at scale without sacrificing nutrition.
Is cold pressed better for you?
Yes. Cold pressing helps to maintain the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants of citrus (and fruit in general). And there are good reasons to preserve those nutrients:
Antioxidants:
Antioxidants help to fight off free radicals and prevent damage to our cells by reducing oxidative stress. In very simple terms, free radicals can inflict harm to our bodies which increase our susceptibility to aging and a wide range of ailments like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, Parkinson’s and certain cancer.
Vitamins and Minerals:
Having Vitamin C in your diet helps to keep your white blood cells functioning and your immune system strong. This is important for so many reasons like improved wound healing, absorbing iron and moderating glucose levels. Citrus contains folate which is essential for healthy red blood cells, DNA and for cell growth and division which is super important during pregnancy but also aids in reducing risk of heart disease and stroke.
Why cold press when you can squeeze fresh?
Australia is globally recognised for producing some of the best citrus on the planet. Our climate delivers incredible flavour, colour and size, but the peak season is short with our varieties being available for roughly six months, from July to December.
While fresh fruit will always sit at the top of the nutrition chain, followed closely by fresh juice, once the fresh supply of Aussie citrus runs out, you have to wait. That’s where cold-pressed options really shine.
By cold pressing our citrus during the seasonal window, we can capture all the good stuff, like natural sweetness, nutrients and colour, while the fruit is in peak condition, and make them available for longer than the fresh fruit season allows.
Should you buy cold pressed juice?
Cold pressed juice isn’t just a trend, there are real health benefits to choosing cold pressed over processed juices. It’s a smarter way to preserve the health benefits we need from the foods we eat while also enjoying a flavour that is as close to fresh as you’ll get.
For a country like Australia, where demand for the quality of our citrus is high but the season is short, cold pressed options allow us to bottle peak flavour and nutrition rather than lose it. It bridges the seasonal gap, allowing access to varieties, like blood oranges, that significantly differ in quality, colour and taste depending on region, long after the last piece of fruit has left the orchard.
Fresh will always be best. We’re huge advocates for this. But when fresh runs out, cold pressed is the next best thing we’ve found.
Side note:
Over the years we’ve had plenty of (sadly impossible) requests to extend the Aussie blood orange season. If we could, we would. Beyond the incredible work our farmers put in, the climate and growing conditions are out of our control. And that’s exactly what makes our citrus so exceptional. Eating it in season is everything. We’ve seen first-hand how dramatically blood oranges vary in colour, flavour and aroma in other growing regions around the world. It doesn’t compare and that’s not boasting, it’s reality.
Knowing this, we went on a mission to “extend the season” of our most requested variety: our Dracula blood oranges.
This blog was inspired by the journey we took to find a solution that would preserve the qualities of our fruit after the season ends. A huge thanks goes to Chris and the team at Little West for cold pressing our Aussie blood oranges with so much care. The live tastings we held back in October proved the colour, flavour and quality were almost identical to fresh-squeezed. Many people couldn’t tell the difference at all. Even our blood orange grower, Vito, was impressed.
For us, cold-pressed juice is an absolute win for everyone.
At the time of writing this blog, our cold pressed blood orange juice was available for purchase via the Little West website and in selected Hy Vee stores across America. For more information on how to retail our blood orange juice for 2026, please contact the team on info@draculacitrus.com.au
