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Tropicana Products

History

Anthony T. Rossi

Anthony T. Rossi (19001993) was born in Italy on the island of Sicily. He had the equivalent of a high school education, and immigrated to the United States when he was 21 years old. He drove a taxicab, was a grocer in New York, farmed in Virginia and then moved to Florida in 1940 where he farmed and was a restaurateur. His first involvement with the Florida citrus industry was fresh fruit gift boxes sold by Macy's and Gimbel's department stores in New York City, New York.

In 1947, Rossi settled in Palmetto, Florida and began packing fruit gift boxes and jars of sectioned fruit for salads under the name Manatee River Packing Company. As the fruit segment business grew, the company moved to a larger location in east Bradenton, Florida and changed its name to Fruit Industries. The ingredients for the fresh fruit salads on the menu of New York famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel were supplied by Fruit Industries. At the east Bradenton location, Rossi began producing frozen concentrate orange juice as a natural extension of the fruit section business.

Evolution of Tropicana Pure Premium

In 1952, with growth of the orange juice business in mind, Rossi purchased the Grapefruit Canning Company in Bradenton. The fresh fruit segments and orange juice business were so successful that he discontinued production of fruit boxes. He developed flash pasteurization in 1954, a process that rapidly raised the temperature of juice for a short time to preserve its fresh taste. For the first time, consumers could have the fresh taste of pure not-from-concentrate juice in a ready to serve chilled package. The juice, Tropicana Pure Premium, became the company flagship product. In 1957, the company name was changed to Tropicana Products, Inc. to reflect the growing appeal of the Tropicana brand.

Shipping innovations

Main article: Juice Train

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

Tropicana purchased one million dollars worth of refrigerated trucks to deliver Pure Premium. Soon, 2,000 dairies delivered Pure Premium orange juice to the doorsteps of consumers each morning. By 1958, a ship, S.S. Tropicana, was taking 1.5 million gallons of juice to New York each week from new base at Cape Canaveral, Florida. From 1960 to 1970, Tropicana utilized TOFC (trailers on flatbed cars) to move the juice more efficiently.

In 1970, Tropicana orange juice was shipped as finished goods via refrigerated boxcars in one weekly round-trip from Florida to Kearny, New Jersey. By the following year, the company was operating two 65-car unit trains a week, each carrying around 1 million gallons of juice. The "Great White Juice Train" (the first unit train in the food industry, consisting of 150 100-ton insulated boxcars fabricated in the Alexandria, Virginia shops of Fruit Growers Express) commenced service on June 7, 1971 over the 1,250-mile (2,012-kilometer) route. An additional 100 cars were soon incorporated into the fleet, and small mechanical refrigeration units were installed to keep temperatures constant on hot days. In 2004, Tropicana rail fleet of 514 cars traveled over 35 million miles a method that is three times more fuel efficient than other shipping methods.

In the 21st century, the Tropicana-CSX Juice Trains have been the focus of efficiency studies and have received awards. They are considered good examples[who?] of how modern rail transportation can compete successfully with trucking and other modes to carry perishable products.

Going public and expansion: 19691997

Tropicana Products, Inc. went public in 1969. The stock was first sold over the counter, but gained a listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TOJ. In the same year, it became the first company in the citrus industry to operate its own plastic container manufacturing plant.

Rossi sold Tropicana to Beatrice Foods in 1978. He then retired, and was inducted into the Florida Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1987. Under Beatrice, Tropicana had the financial resources to develop more products. In 1985, Tropicana debuted Tropicana Pure Premium HomeStyle orange juice, which featured added pulp.

In the 1960, Tropicana made history by being the first company to sell bottled Florida orange juice overseas. The company received its first order for 14,000 cases of orange juice at a European food industry trade fair in 1965, and France was the first country outside of North America to enjoy Tropicana products.

Beatrice was acquired by investment company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1986, and Tropicana was sold to The Seagram Company, Ltd.. In the decade that followed, they introduced new juice beverage creations, including the Twister line of bottled and frozen juice blends.

In the early nineties under Seagram, Tropicana also began to expand distribution to global markets. They formed a partnership with Kirin to process and distribute Kirin-Tropicana juices in Japan. By that time, the company was also distributing Tropicana Pure Premium in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Argentina, Panama and Sweden. As the 1990s continued, Tropicana further expanded internationally, entering several more Latin American countries, Hong Kong and China.

Seagram Beverage Group acquired Dole Food Company global juice business in 1995, including the Dole brands in North America, and Dole, Fruvita, Looza and Juice Bowl juices and nectars in Europe. Dole was operated under Tropicana Dole Beverages North America and Tropicana Dole Beverages International.

Tropicana Orange Juice.

Sold to PepsiCo and twenty-first century: 1998resent

Tropicana was acquired by PepsiCo in 1998, which combined it with the Dole brand for marketing purposes. It has become the world leading producer of branded fruit juices.

Citing the decreased productivity of Florida's orange crop after recent hurricanes, Tropicana now uses Brazilian oranges in some of its juice.

Making the juice

Tropicana works with more than 400 established Florida groves, which are selected for sandy soil conditions and advanced irrigation practices.. The company is the largest single buyer of Florida fruit and processes about 60 million boxes of fruit. Once the fruit is picked, oranges are hand graded and any fruit that doesn meet quality inspections is removed.

The oranges are then washed and the orange oil is extracted from the peel to capture the from-the-orange taste, which are later blended into the juice for consistent quality and flavor. The oranges are squeezed and the fresh juice is flash pasteurized. Tropicana developed flash pasteurization to minimize the time the orange juice is exposed to heat while providing maximum nutrition and flavor.

Oranges have a limited growing season, and because there is demand for juice year round, an unspecified quantity of juice (some or potentially all) is deaerated and then stored for future packaging in chilled tanks to preserve quality. The aseptic tanks protect the juice from oxygen and light and hold the liquid at optimal temperatures just above freezing to maintain nutrition. It has been reported that deaerated juice no longer tastes like oranges, and must be supplemented with flavor packs before consumption which are derived from orange oils and Ethyl butyrate (ethanol and butyric acid). Tropicana also uses small quantities of high-quality orange juice from Brazil to supplement the Florida crop.

The oranges Tropicana uses for its juices have different ripening seasons and juice stored in aseptic tanks has been stripped of its taste so some stored juice is blended with fresh juice and a bit of the natural oils found in the orange peel and in the juice are blended in to deliver the most consistent tasting juice. Pulp may be blended in at this point, too, depending on the product.

Tropicana carton and plastic packaging are engineered to maintain quality and freshness. The company packaging materials ensure the juice stays fresh inside the package by preventing outside moisture and light from affecting its quality.

Redesign

In February 2009, Tropicana switched the design on all its cartons to a new image created by the Arnell Group. The new image showed the actual orange juice and redesigned the cap to look like the outside of an orange. After less than two months and a 20% drop in sales, Tropicana switched back to its original design (the orange skewered by the drinking straw).

Not-for-profit affiliations

In 2008 Tropicana joined forces with charity Cool earth and started the 'Rescue Rainforest' campaign in the U.S. People could buy special promotional packs of Tropicana and enter the pack's code online. For each code entered, 100 square feet of rainforest could be saved. The project is based in the Ashaninka corridor in Peru, which lies in an arc of deforestation. As of June 2009, over 47,000,000 square feet (almost 2 square miles) had been saved.

Along with launching the Rescue Rainforest initiative, Tropicana has been trying to reduce their carbon footprint by encouraging carton recycling and supporting the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.

Other products

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.

Pepsi produces fruit flavored soft drinks called Tropicana Twister Soda.

This soft drink line largely replaced Pepsi's Slice soft drinks. Tropicana also has Fruit Snacks, and in the United Kingdom makes smoothies.

Naming rights

Tropicana holds sponsorship to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, the home to the baseball team Tampa Bay Rays. The name of the Bradenton Juice baseball team of the South Coast League is loosely related to Tropicana.

Headquarters

Tropicana Products has its headquarters in Chicago. PepsiCo, the parent company of Tropicana, planned to begin moving Tropicana employees into its existing Chicago facility in the first quarter of 2004. PepsiCo moved Tropicana into Chicago so all of its juice brands would be consolidated into one Chicago-based unit.

Until 2004 Tropicana Products was headquartered in the four story Rossi Office Building in Bradenton, Florida. The Class A office space building, which was completed in 2002, went on the real estate market for $20 million in 2004. In 2007 it was sold to Beals of Florida. The 149,000 square feet (13,800 m2) building was renamed the E. R. Beall Center. The Beall Center, which cost $33 million to build, had an appraised value of $38 million in 2005. The former Tropicana building has a 10,000 square feet (930 m2) cafeteria, a 6,000 square feet (560 m2) fitness center, and a 24,000 square feet (2,200 m2) meeting space.

See also

Juice Train

External links

Chicago portal

Florida portal

Companies portal

Food portal

Tropicana's Official Web Site

Tropicana's Official Belgian Web Site

Tropicana's Official British Web Site

Tropicana page on PepsiCo UK & Ireland

Tropicana Smoothies page on PepsiCo UK & Ireland

Tropicana Rescue Rainforest

Cool Earth

Tropicana's Official Canadian Web Site

Tropicana's Official Spanish Web Site

Tropicana's Official Swiss Web Site

Tropicana Vitaduo France

CSX Transportation Official Web Site

Florida East Coast Railway Official Web Site

Tropicana Europe Aseptic Bottle-Filling Line

Sources

Rossi's bio at the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame class of 1987

Sanna Barlow Rossi. (1986) Anthony T. Rossi, Christian and Entrepreneur: The Story of the Founder of Tropicana. InterVarsity Press. ISBN 0-8308-4999-8

References

^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Tropicana Products, Inc."

^ "Anthony Rossi, 92, Tropicana Founder And Industry Leader", Jan. 27, 1993

^ a b c Nickel, K., Stout, M. & Snyder, L. (2003). A History of Tropicana. Tropicana Products, Inc.

^ Bonocore, Joseph J: ""Raised Italian-American". Page 167. iUniverse, 2005. Google Book Search. Retrieved on May 26, 2009.

^ a b "Tropicana North America"

^ "Zoom Info" Retrieved on May 29, 2009.

^ "With Fla. Crop Down, Brazilian OJ Flows In", May 5, 2007

^ a b c d e "Grove to Glass"

^ Rich, Jennifer. Peek Inside County Famous Juice Giant, Bradenton Herald, March 21, 2006.

^ a b c Alissa Hamilton. "Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice." Yale University Press, 2009.

^ "3 Minute Ad Age", February 26, 2009

^ http://newsroom.mbooth.com/Tropicana/CoolEarth-NewsRelease.html

^ http://world-wire.com/news/0904220005.html

^ http://www.tropicanarainforest.com/p/handler?target=general&action=getHome&sid=3610

^ http://www.tropicanarainforest.com/p/handler?target=general&action=displayPage&sid=3610&pageId=271&version=c

^ Pepsi Product Information, Retrieved 05-28-2009

^ "PepsiCo plots smoothie launch to rival Innocent", 01-31-2008, Retrieved 05-28-2009

^ Quigley, Kelly. "City to be home of Tropicana HQ." Crain's Chicago Business. December 2, 2003. Retrieved on December 23, 2009.

^ "Beall's acquires Tropicana property in Bradenton." Tampa Bay Business Journal. Tuesday January 2, 2007. Retrieved on December 23, 2009.

^ Braga, Michael and Kevin McQuaid. "Bealls buys office space." Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Wednesday January 3, 2007. Retrieved on December 23, 2009.

v  d  e

PepsiCo, Incorporated

Corporate Directors:

Indra Nooyi (Chairwoman and CEO)  Robert Allen  Dina Dublon  Victor Dzau  Ray Hunt  Alberto Ibargen  Arthur Martinez  Steven Reinemund  Sharon Rockefeller  James Schiro  Franklin Thomas  Cynthia Trudell  River King

Pepsi-Cola:

Pepsi  Diet Pepsi  Pepsi Max  Jazz Diet Pepsi  Pepsi ONE  Kas  Mountain Dew  Manzanita Sol  Mirinda  Mug Root Beer  Sierra Mist  Slice  AMP Energy  Aquafina  Ethos Water (under license)  Lipton (Brisk  Iced Tea) (under license)  No Fear (under license)  Ocean Spray (under license)  Frappuccino (under license)  Starbucks (under license)  SoBe  Shani

Frito-Lay:

Lay's  Ruffles  Doritos  Tostitos  Fritos  Cheetos  Rold Gold  Funyuns  Sun Chips  Cracker Jack  Munchos  Smartfood  Oberto (distributed)  Hostess  Lay's Stax  Miss Vickie's  Munchies  Walkers (Salt 'n' Shake  Frazzles  Quavers  Monster Munch  Wotsits)  Sabritas  Smith's (Twisties  Burger Rings  Parker's  Nobby's)  Gamesa  Kurkure

Tropicana:

Tropicana  Dole (under license)  Naked  Copella

Quaker Oats:

Quaker Instant Oatmeal  Cap'n Crunch  Life  Quisp  King Vitaman  Oh's  Aunt Jemima  Chewy Granola Bars  Rice-A-Roni  Toddy

Gatorade:

Gatorade  Propel Fitness Water

Annual Revenue: $35.1 billion USD (16% FY 2006)  Employees: 168,000  Stock Symbol: NYSE: PEP  Website: www.pepsico.com

Categories: Tropicana | Companies established in 1947 | Companies based in Florida | Companies based in Chicago, Illinois | Manatee County, Florida | PepsiCo brands | Orange sodasHidden categories: Articles needing additional references from July 2009 | All articles needing additional references | All articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases | Articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases from June 2009 | Articles with limited geographic scope | USA-centric
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