Establishment Tropicana traces its roots to
Anthony T. Rossi, a native of
Sicily in
Italy, who immigrated to the
United States in 1921 at the age of 21. He drove a taxi, was a grocer in
New York, then worked as a farmer in
Virginia. He then moved to
Florida in 1940, where he farmed and operated a restaurant. His first involvement with the
Florida citrus industry was creating fresh fruit gift boxes. These were sold in
Macy's and
Gimbels department stores, in the city of
New York. In 1947, Rossi settled in
Palmetto, Florida (north of
Bradenton, 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. Rossi began producing frozen concentrated orange juice at the East Bradenton location as a natural extension of the fruit section business. He developed
flash pasteurization in 1954, a preservation process that raised the temperature of juice for a short time to minimally affect its taste. Tropicana Pure Premium chilled juice became the company's flagship product. She appeared prominently on the juice cartons and train cars used to transport the juice. Her image was phased out during the 1980s.
Ed Price was hired as executive vice president and director in 1955 and represented the company as chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission. In 1957, the company's name was changed to Tropicana Products, Inc. to reflect the growing appeal of the Tropicana brand. Soon, 2,000 dairies delivered Pure Premium orange juice to the doorsteps of consumers each morning. The "Great White Juice Train" (the first unit train in the food industry, consisting of 150 100-
short ton insulated boxcars fabricated in the
Alexandria, Virginia shops of
Fruit Growers Express) commenced service on June 7, 1971, over the 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's rail fleet of 514 cars traveled over – a method that is three times more fuel-efficient than other shipping methods.
Going public and expansion (1969–1997) Tropicana Products, Inc. went public in 1969. The stock was first sold over the counter but later listed 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. In the decade that followed, it introduced new juice beverage creations, including the orange line of bottled and frozen juice blends. The company has become the world's leading producer of branded fruit juices. Tropicana headquarters moved to Chicago in 2003. Due to the decreased productivity of Florida's orange crop in the wake of several damaging touches of frost, Tropicana began using a blend of Florida and
Brazilian oranges in 2007. Citing an increased consumer interest in the origin of food products, the company announced in February 2012 that its Tropicana Pure Premium line would return to sourcing oranges only from Florida. Tropicana later reverted to sourcing its oranges from both Florida and Brazil due to the
Asian citrus psyllid, a microscopic insect that spreads a bacterial disease that causes
citrus greening. It is estimated that the disease has killed over 75% of Florida's citrus trees. In February 2009, Tropicana switched the design on all cartons sold in the United States to a new image created by the
Arnell Group. The new packaging featured an image of a stemmed glass of orange juice, redesigned the cap to resemble an orange's exterior, and rotated the name for vertical reading. After two months of negative consumer reaction and a 20% drop in sales, Tropicana switched back to its original design of an orange skewered by a drinking straw. In early 2010, Tropicana reduced the size of its traditional cartons from in the U.S. market and maintained the original price. This change represented a 7.8% increase in the price per ounce for consumers. In 2018, Tropicana again reduced the size of its containers, from , with Tropicana's website stating it was due to a raise in
commodity prices from orange crop yields declining due to natural events and
Hurricane Irma.
Joint venture with PAI Partners (2021–present) On August 3, 2021, PepsiCo announced that they would sell a majority stake in Tropicana,
Naked Juice, and other juice brands to
PAI Partners for $3.3 billion, to concentrate on their healthy snack foods and zero-calorie beverages. They would retain a 39% stake in the new joint-venture company and have exclusive distribution rights to the brands in the USA. In November 2024, Tropicana announced it was redesigning its packaging, reducing the size of its orange juice containers. The company will replace the 52-ounce carafe with a narrower 46-ounce bottle. This change comes amid declining orange juice consumption in the United States. In February 2025, Tropicana reported that it was in financial distress and warned it may file for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company blamed several factors for its struggles, including declining sales, inflation, changes in Americans' diets, increased competition, and natural disasters in Florida and Brazil driven by climate change. The latter reason, in particular, caused production to be shed by over 73% since 2015. == Not-for-profit affiliations ==