Orange Juice Cola Wars

HAMILTON: The flavor industry can lend diversity to products that aren’t really that diverse. Soft drinks are a perfect example: They’re corn syrup and flavor. With orange juice, it’s masking the processing procedure rather than the diversity of ingredients.

IDEAS: So parse the carton for us. For example, what is the phrase “not from concentrate” really about?

HAMILTON: In the ’80s, Tropicana had a hold on ready-to-serve orange juice with full-strength juice. Then this new product, reconstituted orange juice, started appearing in supermarkets. Tropicana had to make decisions. Storing concentrate is much cheaper than full-strength juice. The phrase “not from concentrate” was to try to make consumers pay more for the product because it’s a more expensive product to manufacture. It didn’t have to do with the product being fresher; the product didn’t change, the name simply changed. Tropicana didn’t want to have to switch to concentrate technology.

IDEAS: A battle of the beverages?

HAMILTON: Yes. This is the orange juice equivalent of the cola wars. Minute Maid is probably the most familiar reconstituted orange juice, and it’s owned by Coca-Cola. Tropicana is owned by Pepsi.

Boston Globe, “Q&A with Alissa Hamilton” (author of this book)

Filed under: Boston Globe  brand management  selling culture