Midterm: Minute Maid Orange Juice

“To understand why Orange Juice is so special you have to start with the orange.” 1

In the 1940s, a better method of processing orange juice was introduced. After experimenting for three years, the National Research Corporation of Boston, Massachusetts developed an orange juice powder that was high in flavor.

“During its first year of operation in 1946, the company recorded sales of $374,500. Just five years later, sales reached $29.5 million.” 2

The problem with the orange juice powder, however, would turn out to be a big one. It was difficult to commercialize the powder. Thus, frozen orange juice concentrate was born! This rich, fresh-squeeze tasting orange juice began with limited production.

With the rise of the new frozen concentrate, the company from Boston had to come up with a name. Known for its minutemen, the city’s orange juice was named “Minute Maid!” This name would soon reflect the convenience and simple preparation of the refreshing orange juice.

In the early days, when the company was first introduced, there was no money to advertise or promote the Minute Maid orange juice. This caused the product to be offered as free samples, which were passed out door to door. As demand for the product rose, frozen juice cabinets would empty in stores all over the Boston area.

Minute Maid orange juice ended up becoming so successful that it caused its producer, Florida Foods Corporation, to rename itself as The Minute Maid Company. This was just the beginning of the result of the valuable trademark.

“Minute Maid® has perfected a way to offer great taste all year round with a process that captures the flavour and aroma of oranges. Packed with vitamin C, folate and potassium, orange juice not only tastes good, it’s good for you.”1

In 1960, the Coca-Cola Company purchased the Minute Maid Company. One year later, an “essence recovery” system was discovered to help capture that fresh-squeezed flavor. In 1973, Minute Maid introduced ready-to-drink chilled orange juice like you see today. In 1987, plastic bottled Minute Maid ready-to-drink orange juice was produced and “Minute Maid Calcium Rich” orange juice was launched.

Finally, in 1996, Minute Maid found a way to get the taste bud sensation of eating a fresh, ripe orange. This led to the introduction of “Minute Maid Premium 100% pure” ready-to-drink orange juice.

“The oranges used in Minute Maid® orange juice products come mostly from Brazil, the largest producer of oranges.”1

Brazilian oranges are most related to that of Florida’s oranges. Due to the fantastic weather, harvest season runs from July to January. Brazilian orange varieties include the Pera (much like the Valencia), the Hamlin, Parson Brown and the Natal.

In 2003, Minute Maid introduced new types of juices and teas to build to the Coca-Cola Company. Today Minute Maid makes several juices including fruit punch and tropical punch, lemonade and pink lemonade, cranberry juice blends like cran-apple-raspberry and a numerous amount more.

Today the Minute Maid orange juice competes with many other orange juice companies. Minute Maid’s competition includes Tropicana, Florida’s Natural and Simply Orange. These companies are the leading names in orange juice. Dropped to number two, Minute Maid closely trails behind Tropicana.

“As we add more nutritious, healthful products to our product line-up, we never forget the early attributes emphasized by John Fox and his team – taste, quality, convenience and most importantly, nutrition.” 3

1 http://www.minutemaid.ca/en/inside_story/about_orange_juice.htm
2 http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/The-Minute-Maid-Company-Company-History.html
3 http://www.minutemaid.com/about/History.jsp