1 00:00:02,250 --> 00:00:03,625 - [Narrator] Orange juice. 2 00:00:05,083 --> 00:00:07,917 Essential to the breakfast table, 3 00:00:07,917 --> 00:00:10,417 and an iconic vitamin C powerhouse. 4 00:00:10,417 --> 00:00:14,375 - Orange juice is as part of breakfast as the rising sun is. 5 00:00:15,625 --> 00:00:17,333 - But it would take a series of unlikely events 6 00:00:17,333 --> 00:00:20,000 to make it part our everyday lives. 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:21,292 - Nobody thought to put it in a bottle 8 00:00:21,292 --> 00:00:24,417 because orange juice spoils so easily. 9 00:00:24,417 --> 00:00:27,583 - [Narrator] It begins with the demands of a world war. 10 00:00:27,583 --> 00:00:30,375 - We can do this. We've got all you can really need. 11 00:00:31,542 --> 00:00:33,667 - The idea of taking technology that was developed 12 00:00:33,667 --> 00:00:35,417 to build an atomic bomb, 13 00:00:35,417 --> 00:00:38,083 and then turn it around to build rations 14 00:00:38,083 --> 00:00:42,000 for the fighting forces is pretty outlandish. 15 00:00:43,167 --> 00:00:44,875 - [Narrator] What starts as a wartime ration 16 00:00:44,875 --> 00:00:47,792 evolves into a potential gold mine. 17 00:00:47,792 --> 00:00:51,250 - You want to sell frozen concentrated juice. 18 00:00:51,250 --> 00:00:52,833 - Is it possible? 19 00:00:52,833 --> 00:00:56,667 - Spawning a bitter rivalry between two juice types titans. 20 00:00:56,667 --> 00:01:00,708 - Tropicana comes up with not from concentrate. 21 00:01:00,708 --> 00:01:04,667 - The implication is that concentrate is bad, 22 00:01:04,667 --> 00:01:08,208 which is a direct blow against Minute Maid. 23 00:01:08,208 --> 00:01:09,542 - [Narrator] Each with a vision 24 00:01:09,542 --> 00:01:12,250 to bring orange juice to the breakfast table. 25 00:01:12,250 --> 00:01:14,583 - Now people are able to enjoy a cold glass 26 00:01:14,583 --> 00:01:16,750 of orange juice without all that work. 27 00:01:18,083 --> 00:01:20,250 - Tropicana raised the bar on orange juice 28 00:01:20,250 --> 00:01:23,458 - And it took off like a rocket ship. 29 00:01:23,458 --> 00:01:26,292 (dramatic music) 30 00:01:28,417 --> 00:01:31,583 - [Announcer] Truly bottled sunshine. 31 00:01:34,542 --> 00:01:37,333 (dramatic music) 32 00:01:55,583 --> 00:01:57,000 - [Narrator] Breakfast has long been considered 33 00:01:57,000 --> 00:01:59,375 the most important meal of the day, 34 00:01:59,375 --> 00:02:01,500 but up until the mid 1940s, 35 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:03,958 the classic American breakfast as we now know it 36 00:02:03,958 --> 00:02:07,042 was missing one essential item. 37 00:02:07,042 --> 00:02:09,042 Orange juice. 38 00:02:09,042 --> 00:02:11,208 - There was a time where Americans didn't have 39 00:02:11,208 --> 00:02:12,875 access to oranges. 40 00:02:12,875 --> 00:02:14,875 There wasn't the railroad to connect 41 00:02:14,875 --> 00:02:16,542 the orange producing places, 42 00:02:16,542 --> 00:02:19,708 Florida and California to the rest of the country. 43 00:02:19,708 --> 00:02:21,417 Oranges were super special. 44 00:02:21,417 --> 00:02:23,958 They were like a treat that you would mail people 45 00:02:23,958 --> 00:02:24,833 for the holidays. 46 00:02:26,083 --> 00:02:27,542 - If you wanted to have orange juice, 47 00:02:27,542 --> 00:02:30,375 you really had to have it freshly squeezed. 48 00:02:30,375 --> 00:02:32,917 And the thing is, that wasn't available to everybody, 49 00:02:32,917 --> 00:02:35,333 you know, and it wasn't available all year round. 50 00:02:35,333 --> 00:02:38,708 - Very, very few people drank orange juice. 51 00:02:38,708 --> 00:02:42,875 Part of the issue was that it just didn't transport well. 52 00:02:42,875 --> 00:02:44,458 It's a perishable good, 53 00:02:44,458 --> 00:02:47,708 but if you take the convenient natural wrapping off 54 00:02:47,708 --> 00:02:50,250 of an orange, the juice inside will oxidate 55 00:02:50,250 --> 00:02:52,417 and it will go bad very, very quickly. 56 00:02:55,083 --> 00:02:56,958 - [Narrator] As early as the 1920s, 57 00:02:56,958 --> 00:02:58,375 citrus growers had tried pasteurizing 58 00:02:58,375 --> 00:03:00,417 and canning orange juice, 59 00:03:00,417 --> 00:03:02,333 but the process would kill the flavor, 60 00:03:02,333 --> 00:03:04,250 and it never caught on. 61 00:03:04,250 --> 00:03:06,000 - By the time it reached its destination, 62 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,208 it was mainly just an orange gloop. 63 00:03:08,208 --> 00:03:09,625 Scientists called it cooked. 64 00:03:09,625 --> 00:03:11,542 People said it tasted like turpentine. 65 00:03:11,542 --> 00:03:15,292 It just generally was not a very pleasant beverage to drink. 66 00:03:16,708 --> 00:03:19,208 - [Narrator] But in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II, 67 00:03:19,208 --> 00:03:21,542 that was all about change. 68 00:03:21,542 --> 00:03:24,500 Starting a research lab being run out of Boston, 69 00:03:24,500 --> 00:03:27,708 Massachusetts called the National Research Corporation, 70 00:03:27,708 --> 00:03:29,583 or N.R.C. 71 00:03:29,583 --> 00:03:31,458 - Richard Morris was the founder 72 00:03:31,458 --> 00:03:33,167 of the National Research Corporation. 73 00:03:33,167 --> 00:03:35,667 His background was in technical science. 74 00:03:35,667 --> 00:03:37,833 He actually had a degree in physics from MIT, 75 00:03:37,833 --> 00:03:39,875 and he was sort of the leader 76 00:03:39,875 --> 00:03:43,833 pioneering these new vacuum technologies for the war. 77 00:03:46,083 --> 00:03:50,042 - Richard Morris begins using this vacuum tech 78 00:03:50,042 --> 00:03:51,375 that he loves to do. 79 00:03:51,375 --> 00:03:54,875 Everything from removing impurities from metals 80 00:03:54,875 --> 00:03:58,083 and creating powdered drugs like penicillin, 81 00:03:58,083 --> 00:03:59,750 some pretty important stuff. 82 00:03:59,750 --> 00:04:03,375 And in a kind of crazy twist of fate, 83 00:04:03,375 --> 00:04:07,542 through one of Morris's contacts from back at MIT, 84 00:04:07,542 --> 00:04:09,500 he was tasked with creating a vacuum 85 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:11,542 of unprecedented strength. 86 00:04:11,542 --> 00:04:14,167 And it was used for a little something called 87 00:04:14,167 --> 00:04:15,875 the Manhattan Project, 88 00:04:15,875 --> 00:04:19,417 and the development of the US first atomic bomb. 89 00:04:23,667 --> 00:04:25,250 - Morris is running his company, 90 00:04:25,250 --> 00:04:27,167 but he, you know, he's a science guy, 91 00:04:27,167 --> 00:04:29,292 and he really needs someone who can handle 92 00:04:29,292 --> 00:04:32,000 the more businessy side of things. 93 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,042 So he hires John Fox. 94 00:04:34,042 --> 00:04:35,417 - Good morning. 95 00:04:35,417 --> 00:04:38,375 - Who is a graduate of Colgate University 96 00:04:38,375 --> 00:04:40,625 and comes from IBM of all places, 97 00:04:40,625 --> 00:04:42,542 But he had a reputation coming from IBM 98 00:04:42,542 --> 00:04:44,458 that he could work a room, right? 99 00:04:44,458 --> 00:04:46,708 He was charismatic, he was ambitious. 100 00:04:46,708 --> 00:04:50,208 So this was the perfect sort of compliment. 101 00:04:50,208 --> 00:04:52,583 - [Narrator] Soon, after Fox joins N.R.C., 102 00:04:52,583 --> 00:04:55,000 the US government puts out a call for the development 103 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,750 of a new vitamin C supplement for troops fighting overseas. 104 00:04:58,750 --> 00:05:01,375 - So during World War II, obviously troop nutrition 105 00:05:01,375 --> 00:05:03,208 was super important, and as part of it, 106 00:05:03,208 --> 00:05:05,292 they gave them these lemon crystals 107 00:05:05,292 --> 00:05:07,333 as part of their K rations, 108 00:05:07,333 --> 00:05:09,500 and you just would dump it in a glass and add water, 109 00:05:09,500 --> 00:05:10,667 and you can have lemonade. 110 00:05:10,667 --> 00:05:11,833 Vitamin C rich. 111 00:05:11,833 --> 00:05:13,333 The problem is it tasted absolutely horrible. 112 00:05:13,333 --> 00:05:15,500 So most of them just dumped it. 113 00:05:16,542 --> 00:05:18,625 - So the quartermaster makes an offer. 114 00:05:18,625 --> 00:05:21,625 He says, anyone, any company, 115 00:05:21,625 --> 00:05:24,792 that can create a vitamin C supplement 116 00:05:24,792 --> 00:05:27,458 to replace this horribly revolting lemon juice 117 00:05:27,458 --> 00:05:31,208 that can get vitamin C in a tasty way 118 00:05:31,208 --> 00:05:33,458 into the American fighting forces 119 00:05:33,458 --> 00:05:36,417 would be granted a contract worth $725,000. 120 00:05:41,917 --> 00:05:43,708 Them's 1940s money. 121 00:05:43,708 --> 00:05:46,250 You wanna translate that to today's money, 122 00:05:46,250 --> 00:05:48,792 that is $15 million. 123 00:05:53,208 --> 00:05:54,208 - Have you seen this? 124 00:05:54,208 --> 00:05:56,000 - Yes. 125 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,583 - So Fox thinks he can win that government contract. 126 00:05:59,583 --> 00:06:01,667 - We've got all the equipment we need. 127 00:06:01,667 --> 00:06:04,875 - Which we are using for important things, 128 00:06:04,875 --> 00:06:07,375 not to make lemonade. 129 00:06:08,375 --> 00:06:10,708 - The idea of taking high tech vacuum technology, 130 00:06:10,708 --> 00:06:13,750 technology that was developed to build an atomic bomb, 131 00:06:13,750 --> 00:06:16,708 and then turn it around to build rations 132 00:06:16,708 --> 00:06:20,083 for the fighting forces, to create food products, 133 00:06:20,083 --> 00:06:23,792 is pretty outlandish and pretty outside the box. 134 00:06:24,958 --> 00:06:27,583 - Could you just imagine what a contract this size 135 00:06:27,583 --> 00:06:28,958 could do for the company? 136 00:06:35,542 --> 00:06:39,042 - [Narrator] Fox convinces Morris to use the lab's 137 00:06:39,042 --> 00:06:40,167 high powered vacuum technology 138 00:06:40,167 --> 00:06:43,583 to work on creating a new vitamin C drink powder, 139 00:06:43,583 --> 00:06:45,917 which troops could mix with water in the field. 140 00:06:47,042 --> 00:06:49,500 - The way Moore's vacuum technology worked is, 141 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:51,708 it effectively lowered the boiling point 142 00:06:51,708 --> 00:06:54,750 for any substance you put inside it. 143 00:06:54,750 --> 00:06:58,417 Effectively, they could be heated to lower temperatures 144 00:06:58,417 --> 00:07:01,083 and still evaporate all the moisture within, 145 00:07:01,083 --> 00:07:04,500 which was great for things like, you know, blood, plasma, 146 00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:06,833 or in this case, fruit juice. 147 00:07:08,625 --> 00:07:11,667 - So what Fox and Morris are setting out to do 148 00:07:11,667 --> 00:07:15,833 is to create a none-spoiling, shelf stable, 149 00:07:15,833 --> 00:07:19,542 delicious to drink vitamin C source 150 00:07:19,542 --> 00:07:23,250 for the US fighting force. 151 00:07:23,250 --> 00:07:26,000 But it's way easier said than done. 152 00:07:27,042 --> 00:07:28,958 - Well, we have something. 153 00:07:30,458 --> 00:07:31,875 - They start with grapefruit- 154 00:07:33,958 --> 00:07:35,292 too sour. 155 00:07:35,292 --> 00:07:36,875 They go to tangerines. 156 00:07:38,875 --> 00:07:41,625 Not a lot of flavor, just not palatable though. 157 00:07:42,500 --> 00:07:45,250 - So Fox is getting super antsy, 158 00:07:45,250 --> 00:07:47,208 and he's in a race against the clock. 159 00:07:47,208 --> 00:07:50,083 He wants to get the military this vitamin C supplement 160 00:07:50,083 --> 00:07:53,708 before he gets shut out or before the war actually ends. 161 00:07:53,708 --> 00:07:56,750 - Morris tries to dehydrate one last fruit. 162 00:08:04,083 --> 00:08:06,792 - So one of the reasons they didn't go for orange juice 163 00:08:06,792 --> 00:08:10,083 right away is because oranges had been canned in the past, 164 00:08:10,083 --> 00:08:12,208 and when it came out, it didn't taste good, 165 00:08:12,208 --> 00:08:16,042 but they thought, well, maybe dehydration as opposed 166 00:08:16,042 --> 00:08:18,708 to pasteurization is gonna work better. 167 00:08:20,083 --> 00:08:20,958 - We'll keep at it. 168 00:08:22,417 --> 00:08:27,458 - No. Let's go with this one. That's good enough. 169 00:08:33,208 --> 00:08:35,250 - Fox basically says, look, 170 00:08:35,250 --> 00:08:38,208 the bar is super low compared to what 171 00:08:38,208 --> 00:08:39,708 we have on the market now. 172 00:08:39,708 --> 00:08:42,292 We're not really gunning for a stellar product, 173 00:08:42,292 --> 00:08:44,167 we're gunning for this contract. 174 00:08:44,167 --> 00:08:46,417 So what he gets, the US government is essentially 175 00:08:46,417 --> 00:08:48,208 an orange powdered drink mix. 176 00:08:49,792 --> 00:08:51,125 - [Narrator] Now they just have to hope no one else comes up 177 00:08:51,125 --> 00:08:52,750 with anything better. 178 00:08:58,708 --> 00:09:01,917 In southern Florida, an Italian immigrant is struggling 179 00:09:01,917 --> 00:09:04,000 with his own orange business. 180 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,375 - Anthony Rossi embodies this classic American story. 181 00:09:07,375 --> 00:09:09,833 He moves from Sicily in 1921. 182 00:09:09,833 --> 00:09:13,333 He's 21 years old, and he has got $30 in his pocket. 183 00:09:13,333 --> 00:09:16,833 So Rossi works a number of jobs when he arrives in America. 184 00:09:16,833 --> 00:09:19,833 He's a machinist, he's a cab driver, he's a chauffeur. 185 00:09:19,833 --> 00:09:21,333 He gets into the grocery business 186 00:09:21,333 --> 00:09:23,500 and works on Long Island for 13 years. 187 00:09:23,500 --> 00:09:26,000 And then in the 1940s, he moves down to Florida, 188 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,625 and he decides he's gonna sell luxury gift baskets 189 00:09:28,625 --> 00:09:32,208 that send the best oranges north to luxury hotels 190 00:09:32,208 --> 00:09:35,292 and department stores in New York City. 191 00:09:37,292 --> 00:09:41,125 - Notoriously Rossi has extremely high standards 192 00:09:41,125 --> 00:09:43,833 about everything, about what he ate, what he drank, 193 00:09:43,833 --> 00:09:46,500 and especially what he put into these gift baskets. 194 00:09:46,500 --> 00:09:49,708 - [Narrator] Rossi's standards are so high, 195 00:09:49,708 --> 00:09:50,792 that he discards any oranges 196 00:09:50,792 --> 00:09:53,708 that don't meet his specifications. 197 00:09:53,708 --> 00:09:56,250 - He had an incredible ability to taste differences, 198 00:09:56,250 --> 00:09:59,708 and not everybody can taste subtle differences, 199 00:09:59,708 --> 00:10:01,958 but Mr. Rossi could. 200 00:10:01,958 --> 00:10:04,000 - Rossi uses some of the rejects to make 201 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,167 fresh squeezed juice for himself. 202 00:10:09,125 --> 00:10:12,250 - Oranges are plentiful in Sicily, 203 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,083 and Anthony Rossi grew up eating oranges, 204 00:10:16,083 --> 00:10:18,708 and those oranges that weren't aesthetically beautiful 205 00:10:18,708 --> 00:10:21,542 enough to end up in an Anthony Rossi fruit basket 206 00:10:21,542 --> 00:10:24,958 very often ended up in his juicer. 207 00:10:28,375 --> 00:10:30,708 - [Narrator] While Rossi enjoys the fresh squeezed juice 208 00:10:30,708 --> 00:10:34,583 along with family and friends, it's hurting his profits. 209 00:10:35,875 --> 00:10:38,042 - So remember, if you order a bunch of oranges 210 00:10:38,042 --> 00:10:40,208 and you're not selling all those oranges, 211 00:10:40,208 --> 00:10:43,708 every orange you don't sell, that's a loss. 212 00:10:43,708 --> 00:10:45,875 So Rossi begins to think, 213 00:10:45,875 --> 00:10:49,875 to recoup some of the loss from these wasted oranges, 214 00:10:49,875 --> 00:10:52,250 Maybe I should try selling this juice. 215 00:10:59,250 --> 00:11:01,167 - [Narrator] One day Rossi's determination 216 00:11:01,167 --> 00:11:03,667 will help build an orange juice empire, 217 00:11:03,667 --> 00:11:06,000 producing over two and a half million cartons a day 218 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,000 and generating just under a billion dollars a year. 219 00:11:10,625 --> 00:11:14,167 That empire will be known as Tropicana. 220 00:11:22,542 --> 00:11:25,042 In 1945, after two years of experimentation, 221 00:11:25,042 --> 00:11:28,375 John Fox and Richard Morris win a government contract 222 00:11:28,375 --> 00:11:32,875 for $750,000 to produce 500,000 pounds of orange powder 223 00:11:32,875 --> 00:11:36,708 for the soldiers fighting overseas. 224 00:11:36,708 --> 00:11:38,542 - So John Fox takes this money, 225 00:11:38,542 --> 00:11:40,833 and he invests it into building a factory 226 00:11:40,833 --> 00:11:43,833 in Plymouth, Florida that's right next to orange groves. 227 00:11:43,833 --> 00:11:47,042 So he's in the perfect position to pump fresh orange juice 228 00:11:47,042 --> 00:11:49,917 right into his factory, ready to be dehydrated. 229 00:11:50,750 --> 00:11:52,417 - To create an orange powder, 230 00:11:52,417 --> 00:11:55,625 basically what you have to do is remove the moisture. 231 00:11:55,625 --> 00:11:58,625 So their process involved an initial removal 232 00:11:58,625 --> 00:11:59,708 of some of the moisture, 233 00:11:59,708 --> 00:12:01,458 but then taking that remainder 234 00:12:01,458 --> 00:12:05,042 and then freezing it into a frozen concentrate, 235 00:12:05,042 --> 00:12:09,208 which then they later dehydrated even more. 236 00:12:09,208 --> 00:12:11,292 - [Narrator] The concentrate allows for easier storage 237 00:12:11,292 --> 00:12:13,708 and faster dehydration. 238 00:12:15,583 --> 00:12:16,500 - They're ready to go. 239 00:12:16,500 --> 00:12:17,917 They've got thousands of gallons 240 00:12:17,917 --> 00:12:20,750 of frozen orange juice just waiting to be dehydrated 241 00:12:20,750 --> 00:12:22,792 into powdered vitamin C rations, 242 00:12:22,792 --> 00:12:25,417 and then to be sent to the boys on the front line. 243 00:12:25,417 --> 00:12:28,667 - [Narrator] But within months, production comes to a halt. 244 00:12:28,667 --> 00:12:31,375 (phone ringing) 245 00:12:32,917 --> 00:12:34,667 - Hello, this is John. 246 00:12:34,667 --> 00:12:35,875 - [Commander] Hello John. 247 00:12:35,875 --> 00:12:37,125 Commander, how are you? 248 00:12:38,042 --> 00:12:39,208 - I'm well, how are you? 249 00:12:39,208 --> 00:12:41,958 - [Commander] Very well. I have news. 250 00:12:41,958 --> 00:12:43,458 - So you know that whole atomic bomb thing 251 00:12:43,458 --> 00:12:45,042 that Morris was working on? 252 00:12:46,125 --> 00:12:50,208 We dropped two of those, and the war ended. 253 00:12:52,875 --> 00:12:56,833 - [Commander] The war, the contract, it's over. 254 00:12:56,833 --> 00:12:57,750 - I understand. 255 00:12:58,958 --> 00:13:01,375 - So after all their time and all their energy 256 00:13:01,375 --> 00:13:02,458 and all their work, 257 00:13:02,458 --> 00:13:06,375 the government now no longer wants or needs 258 00:13:06,375 --> 00:13:08,875 this vitamin C supplement. 259 00:13:17,208 --> 00:13:18,583 - [Narrator] Fox and Morris are now sitting 260 00:13:18,583 --> 00:13:21,375 on thousands of gallons of frozen orange juice concentrate 261 00:13:21,375 --> 00:13:23,417 that nobody wants, 262 00:13:23,417 --> 00:13:27,125 and they've put all their resources into its production. 263 00:13:27,125 --> 00:13:29,250 - Morris was ready to throw in the towel at this point. 264 00:13:29,250 --> 00:13:32,292 Essentially, he was ready to move on to other ventures 265 00:13:32,292 --> 00:13:35,125 because he had other things that he was interested in. 266 00:13:35,125 --> 00:13:37,917 - [Narrator] But his partner sees things differently. 267 00:13:37,917 --> 00:13:39,500 - Fox in particular, 268 00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:42,792 was having a real hard time letting go of this production. 269 00:13:42,792 --> 00:13:44,333 What if we sell it? 270 00:13:46,208 --> 00:13:49,542 - Who will buy it? The war is over. 271 00:13:50,917 --> 00:13:53,083 - This was Fox's dream. 272 00:13:53,083 --> 00:13:55,042 He left IBM to start his own company. 273 00:13:55,042 --> 00:13:56,625 Now he starts his own company, 274 00:13:56,625 --> 00:14:00,583 and the very first hurdle knocks them down to the ground. 275 00:14:02,167 --> 00:14:06,958 - I mean, sell it in stores, grocery stores. 276 00:14:09,458 --> 00:14:11,875 - You have to understand it wasn't super easy for them 277 00:14:11,875 --> 00:14:13,167 to just pivot and say, 278 00:14:13,167 --> 00:14:15,958 okay, we'll sell it in the private sector. 279 00:14:15,958 --> 00:14:18,000 It is not an easy feat 280 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,750 to sell a vitamin C supplement in 1945. 281 00:14:21,750 --> 00:14:23,042 - At this point in the forties, 282 00:14:23,042 --> 00:14:26,125 the concept of vitamins was still fairly new. 283 00:14:26,125 --> 00:14:29,708 I think the first like one a day vitamin supplement 284 00:14:29,708 --> 00:14:31,458 didn't come out until 1943, 285 00:14:31,458 --> 00:14:35,208 and people were still sort of wary about this. 286 00:14:35,208 --> 00:14:39,333 So if you were gonna put your money, you know, 287 00:14:39,333 --> 00:14:40,875 onto a product that you were gonna try to sell 288 00:14:40,875 --> 00:14:42,292 to the American people, 289 00:14:42,292 --> 00:14:44,875 a powdered vitamin supplement in the 1940s 290 00:14:44,875 --> 00:14:46,958 wasn't a safe bet. 291 00:14:47,875 --> 00:14:49,250 - It won't sell John. 292 00:14:50,542 --> 00:14:51,375 - It will. 293 00:14:53,583 --> 00:14:54,833 Let me make it better. 294 00:15:00,583 --> 00:15:02,083 - [Narrator] Morris agrees to give the project 295 00:15:02,083 --> 00:15:04,708 a little more time, and together they set out 296 00:15:04,708 --> 00:15:06,792 to make their powdered orange juice appealing enough 297 00:15:06,792 --> 00:15:09,500 for a consumer market. 298 00:15:09,500 --> 00:15:10,792 - You have to remember, 299 00:15:10,792 --> 00:15:12,500 neither one of them really know a thing 300 00:15:12,500 --> 00:15:17,125 about selling beverages to the general public. 301 00:15:17,125 --> 00:15:19,208 - Fox and Morris were really fighting an uphill battle. 302 00:15:19,208 --> 00:15:21,250 The only powdered drink around at that time 303 00:15:21,250 --> 00:15:23,667 that was really popular was Kool-Aid, 304 00:15:23,667 --> 00:15:25,250 which had been around since 1927, 305 00:15:25,250 --> 00:15:28,417 but was primarily targeted at kids. 306 00:15:28,417 --> 00:15:31,333 What they were aiming for was a dehydrated orange juice, 307 00:15:31,333 --> 00:15:34,417 which was gonna be far more nutritious and not as sweet. 308 00:15:35,542 --> 00:15:37,542 - [Narrator] But there is another option. 309 00:15:50,667 --> 00:15:53,167 - What if we could sell to consumers just like this? 310 00:15:55,667 --> 00:15:58,000 - [Narrator] Fox sees is a potential opportunity 311 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,708 to tap into the rise of a booming industry. 312 00:16:00,708 --> 00:16:02,542 Frozen foods. 313 00:16:02,542 --> 00:16:03,500 - Because of World War II, 314 00:16:03,500 --> 00:16:06,042 a lot of the canned foods were rationed, 315 00:16:06,042 --> 00:16:08,042 which meant they weren't readily available. 316 00:16:08,042 --> 00:16:10,583 So that made a lot of families turn to frozen foods, 317 00:16:10,583 --> 00:16:14,917 especially between the years 1945 and 1946. 318 00:16:16,167 --> 00:16:18,583 - You want to sell frozen concentrated juice? 319 00:16:21,208 --> 00:16:23,292 - Look, having a refrigerator with a freezer 320 00:16:23,292 --> 00:16:25,708 immediately after the post-war period, 321 00:16:25,708 --> 00:16:28,375 I mean, that's an aspirational dream for most people. 322 00:16:28,375 --> 00:16:30,042 But what people were filling their freezers 323 00:16:30,042 --> 00:16:33,333 with was frozen fish and vegetables, not juice. 324 00:16:34,792 --> 00:16:36,208 - Is it possible? 325 00:16:36,208 --> 00:16:37,542 - No. 326 00:16:37,542 --> 00:16:39,375 I mean, maybe. 327 00:16:40,625 --> 00:16:42,083 But look, anything is possible. 328 00:16:49,375 --> 00:16:52,208 - [Narrator] 125 miles south, Anthony Rossi 329 00:16:52,208 --> 00:16:55,875 has begun bottling fresh orange juice to sell locally, 330 00:16:55,875 --> 00:16:59,125 but he needs a reliable distribution method. 331 00:17:01,375 --> 00:17:03,500 He gets an idea to prepare his juice delivery 332 00:17:03,500 --> 00:17:06,250 with that of another perishable drink. 333 00:17:07,458 --> 00:17:09,917 - At the time, the milkman was still a thing, 334 00:17:09,917 --> 00:17:11,708 delivering milk door to door daily 335 00:17:11,708 --> 00:17:14,625 because it would go bad so quickly on store shelves. 336 00:17:15,833 --> 00:17:18,625 - What do you say to taking some of these bottles 337 00:17:18,625 --> 00:17:21,792 of orange juice along you milk delivery route? 338 00:17:21,792 --> 00:17:23,542 I guarantee people will love them. 339 00:17:28,292 --> 00:17:30,125 How about I make it worth your while? 340 00:17:36,833 --> 00:17:37,667 Great. 341 00:17:39,042 --> 00:17:41,208 - Rossi actually gets his local milk man 342 00:17:41,208 --> 00:17:43,208 to begin delivering his bottled juice 343 00:17:43,208 --> 00:17:46,167 because, well, it's just like milk. 344 00:17:46,167 --> 00:17:47,750 It also has to be delivered fast, 345 00:17:47,750 --> 00:17:51,042 it has to stay cold, and it has a built-in customer base. 346 00:17:54,375 --> 00:17:56,042 - Sure enough, people love the juice 347 00:17:56,042 --> 00:17:57,625 just as Rossi predicted. 348 00:17:57,625 --> 00:18:00,417 Fresh squeezed orange juice is a truly delicious product, 349 00:18:00,417 --> 00:18:02,417 and it actually brings Rossi great joy 350 00:18:02,417 --> 00:18:05,708 to get such a good product into the hands of the people. 351 00:18:05,708 --> 00:18:07,542 - [Narrator] Now Rossi wants to make selling 352 00:18:07,542 --> 00:18:09,583 orange juice his primary business, 353 00:18:09,583 --> 00:18:12,542 but to do so, he'll need to expand his distribution. 354 00:18:13,833 --> 00:18:17,208 - The problem is that it really has a short shelf life. 355 00:18:17,208 --> 00:18:20,042 If refrigerated, you might have two to three days, 356 00:18:20,042 --> 00:18:22,875 but if not, you have possibly hours 357 00:18:22,875 --> 00:18:25,333 before bacteria kind of go in there 358 00:18:25,333 --> 00:18:28,750 and turn your juice sour. 359 00:18:28,750 --> 00:18:30,417 - [Narrator] Rossi believes he'll make a killing 360 00:18:30,417 --> 00:18:32,208 if he can figure out how to make his orange juice 361 00:18:32,208 --> 00:18:36,417 last longer without sacrificing quality. 362 00:18:36,417 --> 00:18:38,375 But so far that's something no one 363 00:18:38,375 --> 00:18:39,833 has ever been able to do. 364 00:18:42,875 --> 00:18:46,917 By 1946, Fox and Morris have spent months experimenting 365 00:18:46,917 --> 00:18:49,375 with frozen concentrated orange juice. 366 00:18:49,375 --> 00:18:52,292 - What Fox and Morris are really hoping is that 367 00:18:52,292 --> 00:18:54,167 this orange juice concentrate tastes the same 368 00:18:54,167 --> 00:18:55,417 as regular orange juice 369 00:18:55,417 --> 00:18:57,500 once you add a little bit of water to it. 370 00:18:57,500 --> 00:19:00,167 But what they found was that the flavor was a little bit off 371 00:19:00,167 --> 00:19:02,292 and that tartness kind of made it 372 00:19:02,292 --> 00:19:04,875 not taste quite like orange juice. 373 00:19:04,875 --> 00:19:06,208 - [Narrator] When all looks lost, 374 00:19:06,208 --> 00:19:07,792 they make a fortuitous discovery. 375 00:19:11,375 --> 00:19:14,417 - So Fox finds a public patent from the Florida Citrus 376 00:19:14,417 --> 00:19:17,583 Commission with work done by a Louis McDowell 377 00:19:17,583 --> 00:19:19,708 who had figured out that if you pasteurize 378 00:19:19,708 --> 00:19:22,833 and freeze an orange juice concentrate, 379 00:19:22,833 --> 00:19:26,542 if you add a little bit of freshly squeezed OJ to it, 380 00:19:26,542 --> 00:19:29,375 it actually makes it taste like it's freshly squeezed. 381 00:19:30,250 --> 00:19:31,667 - [Narrator] Known as cutback, 382 00:19:31,667 --> 00:19:33,417 the amount of fresh orange juice added juice is small 383 00:19:33,417 --> 00:19:35,333 enough to not be harmful 384 00:19:35,333 --> 00:19:37,583 without pasteurization pasteurization. 385 00:19:37,583 --> 00:19:40,792 - So Fox tries this process himself 386 00:19:42,542 --> 00:19:46,375 and he realizes it tastes pretty damn good. 387 00:19:49,583 --> 00:19:50,792 And this could be a product he could sell 388 00:19:50,792 --> 00:19:51,833 to the American public. 389 00:19:54,333 --> 00:19:56,417 - [Narrator] What they developed will one day lead 390 00:19:56,417 --> 00:19:59,708 to the launch of an $11 billion global juice juggernaut, 391 00:19:59,708 --> 00:20:03,667 one of the all time greatest names in Food Marketing, 392 00:20:03,667 --> 00:20:07,042 Minute Maid, the first ever orange juice available 393 00:20:07,042 --> 00:20:09,542 throughout America. 394 00:20:09,542 --> 00:20:11,917 But what they don't anticipate is how hard it will be 395 00:20:11,917 --> 00:20:16,000 to convince consumers that the juice is worth the squeeze. 396 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,583 - It all just seems so complicated. 397 00:20:25,292 --> 00:20:26,708 - [Narrator] In April of 1946, just eight months 398 00:20:26,708 --> 00:20:29,292 after their government contract is canceled, 399 00:20:29,292 --> 00:20:32,292 John Fox and Richard Morris launch their new product, 400 00:20:32,292 --> 00:20:35,500 a frozen concentrated orange juice packed in cans 401 00:20:35,500 --> 00:20:38,333 and sold for 29 cents a piece. 402 00:20:38,333 --> 00:20:40,667 they call it Minute Maid. 403 00:20:40,667 --> 00:20:43,292 - So the name Minute Maid has sort of two origins. 404 00:20:43,292 --> 00:20:45,958 One, it's inspired by the Minute Men of Boston 405 00:20:45,958 --> 00:20:48,208 which is where the National Research Corporation was based. 406 00:20:48,208 --> 00:20:50,333 The other is they thought that Minute Maid 407 00:20:50,333 --> 00:20:51,833 was a good name to really express 408 00:20:51,833 --> 00:20:54,458 how easy it was to make their orange juice, 409 00:20:54,458 --> 00:20:56,000 less than a minute. 410 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,083 - Their name Minute Maid is just a really great branding 411 00:20:59,083 --> 00:21:00,292 that they bring to it 412 00:21:00,292 --> 00:21:02,375 and it finalizes this perfect product 413 00:21:02,375 --> 00:21:05,292 that they're gonna now be able to sell to consumers. 414 00:21:05,292 --> 00:21:06,875 - [Narrator] Minute Maid's frozen concentrated 415 00:21:06,875 --> 00:21:10,250 orange juice is the very first product of its kind. 416 00:21:10,250 --> 00:21:12,375 - I have very fond memories of me and my Aunt Anne 417 00:21:12,375 --> 00:21:15,375 opening that little magic cylinder 418 00:21:15,375 --> 00:21:17,708 of concentrated juice love 419 00:21:17,708 --> 00:21:21,875 and mashing at it with a wooden spoon while we broke it up. 420 00:21:21,875 --> 00:21:22,750 - I would make it myself. 421 00:21:22,750 --> 00:21:24,167 It was also fun too, 422 00:21:24,167 --> 00:21:26,833 because even if you're a little kid, you can just, you know, 423 00:21:26,833 --> 00:21:31,375 take that frozen cylinder of that orange juice concentrate, 424 00:21:31,375 --> 00:21:33,500 squeeze it into a pitcher, add the water, 425 00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:35,708 and just stir it till it dissolves. 426 00:21:36,583 --> 00:21:38,417 - [Narrator] Despite its catchy name, 427 00:21:38,417 --> 00:21:40,667 convenience, and affordability, 428 00:21:40,667 --> 00:21:43,917 the initial launch of Minute Maid doesn't go as well 429 00:21:43,917 --> 00:21:45,125 as planned. 430 00:21:45,125 --> 00:21:48,042 - The records show that they lost roughly $450,000 431 00:21:48,042 --> 00:21:49,792 in the first two years of existence. 432 00:21:51,292 --> 00:21:53,333 - This is of course a huge letdown for John Fox, 433 00:21:53,333 --> 00:21:55,667 but he's more than disappointed. 434 00:21:56,875 --> 00:21:58,167 He's flabbergasted. 435 00:21:58,167 --> 00:22:00,292 Why isn't this taking off? 436 00:22:03,625 --> 00:22:05,792 - After months of disappointing sales, 437 00:22:05,792 --> 00:22:08,917 Fox organizes focus groups with their target customers, 438 00:22:08,917 --> 00:22:10,917 American housewives. 439 00:22:10,917 --> 00:22:15,042 - The concept of taking a frozen can of juice concentrate 440 00:22:15,042 --> 00:22:18,583 and turning it into a pitcher full of fresh juice, 441 00:22:18,583 --> 00:22:21,625 was very foreign to a lot of the American public. 442 00:22:21,625 --> 00:22:23,458 And they weren't quite sure how 443 00:22:23,458 --> 00:22:25,958 they were gonna get people to latch onto this idea. 444 00:22:29,458 --> 00:22:31,292 (dramatic music) 445 00:22:31,292 --> 00:22:33,708 - It all just seems so complicated. 446 00:22:35,750 --> 00:22:38,333 - If Minute Maid wasn't kept frozen, 447 00:22:38,333 --> 00:22:40,583 the juice inside could actually ferment, 448 00:22:40,583 --> 00:22:43,375 expand and the cans could actually explode. 449 00:22:43,375 --> 00:22:44,958 So there are actually stories about people 450 00:22:44,958 --> 00:22:47,458 who were taking these cans home from the grocery store, 451 00:22:47,458 --> 00:22:50,500 not realizing that they needed to be put in the freezer, 452 00:22:50,500 --> 00:22:53,917 and really destroying and making a mess of their cupboards. 453 00:22:53,917 --> 00:22:56,750 That's how new this whole concept and this product was. 454 00:22:59,583 --> 00:23:01,458 - It's not complicated at all. May I? 455 00:23:02,542 --> 00:23:06,458 Just open the can, plop it into the pitcher, 456 00:23:08,583 --> 00:23:10,708 add a little bit of water 457 00:23:12,833 --> 00:23:14,750 and a few quick stirs of the spoon. 458 00:23:17,042 --> 00:23:19,625 And voila. Orange juice. 459 00:23:27,667 --> 00:23:30,125 - See, you just have to show people how easy it is. 460 00:23:31,542 --> 00:23:33,708 - Are you're going to go door to door across America 461 00:23:33,708 --> 00:23:36,042 showing every housewife how to use it? 462 00:23:37,875 --> 00:23:39,708 - [Narrator] Realizing their product urgently needs 463 00:23:39,708 --> 00:23:43,708 an image upgrade, John Fox takes a big swing. 464 00:23:43,708 --> 00:23:46,000 - He decides he needs someone to be the face of the brand 465 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,708 and he needs that person to already be a big star. 466 00:23:48,708 --> 00:23:50,708 So he goes to the most famous person 467 00:23:50,708 --> 00:23:52,250 in the country at the time. 468 00:23:52,250 --> 00:23:54,250 Bing Crosby. 469 00:23:54,250 --> 00:23:57,792 - Raspberries, gooseberries, huckleberries, I'll be there. 470 00:23:57,792 --> 00:24:01,333 - In 1948 Bing Crosby was the number one box office draw 471 00:24:01,333 --> 00:24:03,917 going on five consecutive years. 472 00:24:03,917 --> 00:24:06,542 - Bing Crosby was a huge film star, 473 00:24:06,542 --> 00:24:09,750 a huge public figure in the late 1940s, early 1950s, 474 00:24:09,750 --> 00:24:13,042 they had a weekday radio program that millions 475 00:24:13,042 --> 00:24:14,583 of Americans tuned into. 476 00:24:14,583 --> 00:24:18,000 Bing Crosby was the influencer of the era. 477 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:19,542 - The idea of celebrity endorsements 478 00:24:19,542 --> 00:24:22,042 really begins with the advent of radio. 479 00:24:22,042 --> 00:24:24,875 And General Mills really pioneers this in 1926 480 00:24:24,875 --> 00:24:27,917 in advertising their product Wheaties, 481 00:24:27,917 --> 00:24:30,667 which produces a huge uptick in sales for them. 482 00:24:30,667 --> 00:24:33,875 But in the 1940s, this is a trusted form of advertising. 483 00:24:33,875 --> 00:24:36,125 The problem is Minute Maid doesn't have the budget 484 00:24:36,125 --> 00:24:38,833 to recruit a high powered celebrity spokesperson. 485 00:24:39,875 --> 00:24:42,375 - John Fox somehow manages to secure 486 00:24:42,375 --> 00:24:43,875 a pitch meeting with Crosby, 487 00:24:43,875 --> 00:24:46,458 but Minute Maid doesn't have a ton of money 488 00:24:46,458 --> 00:24:48,458 at this point in time. 489 00:24:48,458 --> 00:24:49,750 - [Narrator] To secure the endorsement 490 00:24:49,750 --> 00:24:51,625 of the biggest star in America, 491 00:24:51,625 --> 00:24:55,042 Fox proposes a revolutionary deal. 492 00:24:55,042 --> 00:24:57,375 - They come up with a compensation plan 493 00:24:57,375 --> 00:25:00,667 to pay him in stock options. 494 00:25:00,667 --> 00:25:05,375 - So to John's credit, they offer Bing Crosby 20,000 shares 495 00:25:05,375 --> 00:25:07,375 of Minute Maid at 10 cents each, 496 00:25:07,375 --> 00:25:09,833 and he actually goes for it. 497 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,708 - [Narrator] In 1949, each weekday morning, 10:00 AM, 498 00:25:15,708 --> 00:25:18,917 Bing Crosby goes on his massively popular CBS radio show 499 00:25:18,917 --> 00:25:21,208 and advises the American housewife 500 00:25:21,208 --> 00:25:23,708 to buy Minute Maid orange juice. 501 00:25:23,708 --> 00:25:26,333 ♪ Orange juice that's fresh and fine ♪ 502 00:25:26,333 --> 00:25:27,917 ♪ Minute Maid 503 00:25:27,917 --> 00:25:29,625 - [Narrator] He also soon begins appearing 504 00:25:29,625 --> 00:25:31,250 in TV commercials. 505 00:25:31,250 --> 00:25:33,708 - So the makers of Minute Maid blend juicy kinds 506 00:25:33,708 --> 00:25:35,667 together for a very special taste. 507 00:25:35,667 --> 00:25:37,875 To me, it's the perfect taste. 508 00:25:39,167 --> 00:25:41,583 - He just extolled the virtues of Minute Maid. 509 00:25:41,583 --> 00:25:43,458 He appeared in television ads. 510 00:25:43,458 --> 00:25:45,667 A lot of them featured his family at breakfast. 511 00:25:45,667 --> 00:25:48,042 And so this sort of started this idea 512 00:25:48,042 --> 00:25:50,708 that the wholesome American, even Bing Crosby family, 513 00:25:50,708 --> 00:25:54,292 starts their day with the glass of orange juice. 514 00:25:54,292 --> 00:25:56,792 - People wanted to be that quintessential American family. 515 00:25:56,792 --> 00:25:59,333 And Minute Maid definitely played into that 516 00:25:59,333 --> 00:26:00,875 in their advertisement. 517 00:26:00,875 --> 00:26:03,375 They had mom there to give kids a glass of orange juice 518 00:26:03,375 --> 00:26:04,917 while they were on their way to school, 519 00:26:04,917 --> 00:26:07,542 and that imagery just became a part of the American dream 520 00:26:07,542 --> 00:26:09,542 and the American breakfast. 521 00:26:10,667 --> 00:26:13,042 - In 1948, Minute Maid has something like 522 00:26:13,042 --> 00:26:14,583 $3 million in sales. 523 00:26:14,583 --> 00:26:16,042 After three years of Bing Crosby 524 00:26:16,042 --> 00:26:18,208 constantly advertising their product. 525 00:26:18,208 --> 00:26:21,792 1951, their sales were at $30 million a year. 526 00:26:22,875 --> 00:26:24,917 - [Narrator] The ad campaign also coincides 527 00:26:24,917 --> 00:26:27,750 with a marketing push from industry giant general foods, 528 00:26:27,750 --> 00:26:30,542 that shapes the way Americans eat. 529 00:26:30,542 --> 00:26:32,583 - General Foods has a surplus of grape nuts 530 00:26:32,583 --> 00:26:34,042 and they need to move that surplus. 531 00:26:34,042 --> 00:26:36,458 And so they have this brilliant marketing campaign 532 00:26:36,458 --> 00:26:37,750 that promotes breakfast 533 00:26:37,750 --> 00:26:39,750 as the most important meal of the day. 534 00:26:39,750 --> 00:26:41,417 - Marketers are calling this program, 535 00:26:41,417 --> 00:26:43,458 "Eat a good breakfast, do a better job." 536 00:26:43,458 --> 00:26:46,000 So Minute Maid comes along at a time 537 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,417 when the message is being hammered to Americans, 538 00:26:49,417 --> 00:26:51,375 day by day, hour by hour. 539 00:26:51,375 --> 00:26:53,375 So Minute Maid couldn't have been 540 00:26:53,375 --> 00:26:54,958 more fortunate with their timing. 541 00:26:56,875 --> 00:26:58,375 - [Narrator] Americans are now drinking 542 00:26:58,375 --> 00:27:00,042 orange juice coast to coast, 543 00:27:00,042 --> 00:27:01,542 and Minute Maid's frozen concentrate 544 00:27:01,542 --> 00:27:03,583 is the national standard. 545 00:27:04,875 --> 00:27:07,208 The but one man believes it shouldn't be. 546 00:27:09,875 --> 00:27:12,625 Anthony Rossi is determined to redefine 547 00:27:12,625 --> 00:27:16,000 what Americans now know as orange juice. 548 00:27:24,875 --> 00:27:28,667 Anthony Rossi has been selling his orange juice locally, 549 00:27:28,667 --> 00:27:30,208 but with the national success 550 00:27:30,208 --> 00:27:32,542 of Minute Maid's frozen concentrated juice, 551 00:27:32,542 --> 00:27:33,917 he sees the potential profits 552 00:27:33,917 --> 00:27:37,125 to be made selling a fresher tasting product. 553 00:27:37,125 --> 00:27:39,667 - Remember making fresh squeezed orange juice 554 00:27:39,667 --> 00:27:41,083 that lasts more than a few days 555 00:27:41,083 --> 00:27:44,000 is a problem that no one's been able to solve. 556 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,792 - So what Mr. Rossi did is he looked at the data 557 00:27:46,792 --> 00:27:49,792 from the scientists at the Citrus Research Center 558 00:27:49,792 --> 00:27:52,250 and they said, you have to heat the juice 559 00:27:52,250 --> 00:27:54,708 to this temperature for that long to kill this enzyme. 560 00:27:54,708 --> 00:27:56,708 So he said, okay, I have to do that, 561 00:27:56,708 --> 00:28:00,292 but how I do that is my way. 562 00:28:00,292 --> 00:28:03,208 - [Narrator] Rossi experiments with heating 563 00:28:03,208 --> 00:28:05,500 freshly squeezed juice at various times 564 00:28:05,500 --> 00:28:08,292 to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit. 565 00:28:09,708 --> 00:28:12,042 - He realized that the orange juice tasted different 566 00:28:12,042 --> 00:28:14,333 if you heat it for a really long time, 567 00:28:14,333 --> 00:28:18,208 versus heating it quickly and cooling it quickly. 568 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:21,708 - [Narrator] After weeks of trial and error, 569 00:28:21,708 --> 00:28:24,875 Rossi makes a breakthrough. 570 00:28:26,250 --> 00:28:28,750 - And so what he did is he took the temperature up very hot 571 00:28:28,750 --> 00:28:31,542 for a very short period of time, and then down again, 572 00:28:31,542 --> 00:28:34,333 and it gave him a better tasting juice. 573 00:28:35,750 --> 00:28:37,417 - [Narrator] Ross's technique will come to be known 574 00:28:37,417 --> 00:28:39,667 as flash pasteurization. 575 00:28:39,667 --> 00:28:42,042 It'll revolutionize the juices industry. 576 00:28:42,042 --> 00:28:44,042 - With the advent of flash pasteurization, 577 00:28:44,042 --> 00:28:46,083 orange juice now can stay refrigerated 578 00:28:46,083 --> 00:28:49,875 for up to three months without losing any of its flavor. 579 00:28:49,875 --> 00:28:52,625 - And this process is still used today for milk, 580 00:28:52,625 --> 00:28:56,833 kegged beer, fruit juices, sports drinks. 581 00:28:58,542 --> 00:29:00,917 - What Rossi was able to do with flash pasteurization 582 00:29:00,917 --> 00:29:03,583 was make an orange juice that tasted pretty close 583 00:29:03,583 --> 00:29:06,042 to freshly squeezed. 584 00:29:06,042 --> 00:29:07,542 - [Narrator] Rossi is finally armed with 585 00:29:07,542 --> 00:29:10,875 a fresh tasting juice that can be shipped far and wide. 586 00:29:10,875 --> 00:29:13,542 He pours every last penny into launching it, 587 00:29:13,542 --> 00:29:17,125 but first he needs a name. 588 00:29:18,625 --> 00:29:21,000 - There's a lot of people who have different stories, 589 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,458 but the story that is most believable 590 00:29:23,458 --> 00:29:25,000 told by the executives 591 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,833 that were closest to Mr. Rossi during this formative time 592 00:29:27,833 --> 00:29:29,708 was that he was on his way to Miami 593 00:29:29,708 --> 00:29:32,208 and he saw a club named Tropicana 594 00:29:32,208 --> 00:29:35,917 and then that triggered the name. 595 00:29:35,917 --> 00:29:37,875 - He's playing off the word tropical, 596 00:29:39,750 --> 00:29:41,125 and just calls it Tropicana. 597 00:29:43,125 --> 00:29:45,042 - [Narrator] Rossi can't afford a spokesman 598 00:29:45,042 --> 00:29:47,542 to compete with Bing Crosby's level of fame. 599 00:29:47,542 --> 00:29:51,208 So instead, instead he seeks a mascot for his drink. 600 00:29:51,208 --> 00:29:54,917 - So Anthony Rossi decides to take his tropical theme 601 00:29:54,917 --> 00:29:56,875 a step further to come up with a character 602 00:29:56,875 --> 00:29:59,375 named Tropic Anna. 603 00:29:59,375 --> 00:30:01,583 And with his marketing team, they developed this character 604 00:30:01,583 --> 00:30:04,375 who was essentially a girl with a hula skirt on, 605 00:30:04,375 --> 00:30:07,292 and balancing a bowl of oranges on her head. 606 00:30:08,833 --> 00:30:10,208 And unlike Minute Maid that are shipping 607 00:30:10,208 --> 00:30:11,917 their frozen juice in cans, 608 00:30:11,917 --> 00:30:15,750 Rossi stays true to shipping in clear glass bottles. 609 00:30:15,750 --> 00:30:17,250 He knows that it's going to give his customers 610 00:30:17,250 --> 00:30:20,125 some of which have never even seen orange juice, 611 00:30:20,125 --> 00:30:22,375 a good look at what they're buying. 612 00:30:22,375 --> 00:30:24,125 - [Narrator] To ensure his products can be shipped 613 00:30:24,125 --> 00:30:26,292 long distances without spoiling, 614 00:30:26,292 --> 00:30:31,250 Rossi invests $1 million in a fleet of refrigerated trucks. 615 00:30:31,250 --> 00:30:33,417 - So orange juice to increase its shelf life 616 00:30:33,417 --> 00:30:34,833 and maximize its potential, 617 00:30:34,833 --> 00:30:36,375 you wanted to keep it refrigerated. 618 00:30:36,375 --> 00:30:38,375 So, to take advantage of the growing highway network 619 00:30:38,375 --> 00:30:41,042 at this time, he was one of the first business men 620 00:30:41,042 --> 00:30:43,083 to really invest in refrigerated trucks. 621 00:30:44,375 --> 00:30:47,375 - In 1954, Tropicana orange juice hits grocery stores 622 00:30:47,375 --> 00:30:50,833 across the Northeastern United States. 623 00:30:50,833 --> 00:30:53,208 - Frozen concentrate orange juice was one thing, 624 00:30:53,208 --> 00:30:55,833 but now people were able to enjoy a cold glass 625 00:30:55,833 --> 00:30:58,833 of orange juice without all that work. 626 00:30:58,833 --> 00:31:00,750 Can you imagine how people felt about that? 627 00:31:00,750 --> 00:31:03,500 I mean, like their minds were blown. 628 00:31:03,500 --> 00:31:04,958 - [Narrator] While Minute Maid is still the most 629 00:31:04,958 --> 00:31:07,208 trusted brand in orange juice, 630 00:31:08,875 --> 00:31:12,583 Tropicana is beginning to build a loyal following. 631 00:31:12,583 --> 00:31:15,042 - Fox and Morris had some of the best scientific minds 632 00:31:15,042 --> 00:31:17,125 working on this frozen concentrated formula, 633 00:31:17,125 --> 00:31:19,417 and it was still a massive production. 634 00:31:19,417 --> 00:31:20,875 It never occurred to them that someone 635 00:31:20,875 --> 00:31:23,583 would just come along and do a better job. 636 00:31:23,583 --> 00:31:26,208 - [Narrator] And to make matters worse, in 1959, 637 00:31:26,208 --> 00:31:29,708 Morris makes a life-changing life decision. 638 00:31:29,708 --> 00:31:31,167 - Morse gets an offer from the US Army 639 00:31:31,167 --> 00:31:33,000 to take on the prestigious role 640 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,167 of director of research and development. 641 00:31:35,167 --> 00:31:37,208 It's not an offer he can refuse. 642 00:31:37,208 --> 00:31:38,917 Eventually he would rise to the rank 643 00:31:38,917 --> 00:31:40,958 of Assistant Secretary of the Army. 644 00:31:43,542 --> 00:31:45,208 - [Narrator] With his partner out of the picture, 645 00:31:45,208 --> 00:31:47,792 the future of Minute Maid rests 646 00:31:47,792 --> 00:31:51,000 squarely on the shoulders of John Fox. 647 00:31:52,208 --> 00:31:55,875 - But no one could have called his next move. 648 00:32:02,375 --> 00:32:03,792 - [Narrator] by 1960 orange juice consumption 649 00:32:03,792 --> 00:32:06,292 is at an all time high in America, 650 00:32:06,292 --> 00:32:08,875 more than doubling in a 10 year period. 651 00:32:08,875 --> 00:32:10,917 - In 1950, the average person consumes 652 00:32:10,917 --> 00:32:13,208 about eight pounds of orange juice a year. 653 00:32:13,208 --> 00:32:16,625 By 1960, that number increases to 20 pounds 654 00:32:16,625 --> 00:32:18,250 for the average person a year, 655 00:32:18,250 --> 00:32:20,542 and 16 of those 20 pounds would've been 656 00:32:20,542 --> 00:32:22,875 frozen concentrated juice. 657 00:32:22,875 --> 00:32:24,375 - [Narrator] Minute Made is the industry leader 658 00:32:24,375 --> 00:32:25,750 by a wide margin, 659 00:32:25,750 --> 00:32:28,208 and with their success comes interest 660 00:32:28,208 --> 00:32:30,292 from another beverage giant. 661 00:32:33,875 --> 00:32:34,792 - How are you? 662 00:32:34,792 --> 00:32:35,792 - I'm well, and you? 663 00:32:35,792 --> 00:32:36,542 - Thank you. 664 00:32:36,542 --> 00:32:37,917 - Have a seat. 665 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,458 You know, growth is always limited by size. 666 00:32:53,208 --> 00:32:56,875 You wanna sell more orange juice? 667 00:32:56,875 --> 00:32:58,875 It's nice to have the world's largest beverage 668 00:32:58,875 --> 00:33:00,583 distribution network behind you. 669 00:33:04,417 --> 00:33:06,708 - Coca-Cola definitely has that going for it. 670 00:33:07,750 --> 00:33:09,208 - John Fox went through a lot 671 00:33:09,208 --> 00:33:10,708 to make Minute Maid what it was, 672 00:33:10,708 --> 00:33:12,292 so maybe a year or two earlier, 673 00:33:12,292 --> 00:33:14,042 he wouldn't have been ready to make that move. 674 00:33:14,042 --> 00:33:17,208 But it felt like the timing was right for Coca-Cola 675 00:33:17,208 --> 00:33:18,958 to take his brand to new heights. 676 00:33:25,833 --> 00:33:27,375 Fox agrees to sell Minute Maid 677 00:33:27,375 --> 00:33:29,375 for a stock swap in Coca-Cola. 678 00:33:29,375 --> 00:33:31,208 No one knows the exact amount, 679 00:33:31,208 --> 00:33:33,625 but you know that payout had to be a big one. 680 00:33:33,625 --> 00:33:36,083 Fox ended up being a multimillionaire. 681 00:33:36,083 --> 00:33:37,875 He would go on to be the president and chairman 682 00:33:37,875 --> 00:33:39,500 of the United Fruit Company. 683 00:33:41,208 --> 00:33:44,458 And just like that, Coca-Cola has entered the game. 684 00:33:44,458 --> 00:33:45,833 - Very good. 685 00:33:45,833 --> 00:33:47,542 - [Narrator] While J Paul Austin has just purchased 686 00:33:47,542 --> 00:33:50,042 the number one orange juice brand in the country, 687 00:33:50,042 --> 00:33:52,000 He has no idea just how big a threat 688 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:53,375 is looming on the horizon. 689 00:33:56,125 --> 00:33:58,792 - Tropicana's presence in the Northeast is so strong, 690 00:33:58,792 --> 00:34:03,625 that Rossi actually commissions an 8,000 ton ship 691 00:34:03,625 --> 00:34:06,833 to move their product from Florida to New York 692 00:34:06,833 --> 00:34:11,208 that he christens the SS Tropicana. 693 00:34:11,208 --> 00:34:16,250 It shows just how big of a dreamer Anthony Rossi was. 694 00:34:17,542 --> 00:34:20,083 - [Narrator] In 1969 with annual revenues $68 million, 695 00:34:20,083 --> 00:34:22,500 Tropicana goes public. 696 00:34:22,500 --> 00:34:24,333 The infusion of cash from the stock offering 697 00:34:24,333 --> 00:34:26,833 makes revenues explode. 698 00:34:26,833 --> 00:34:28,292 - By the early 1970s, 699 00:34:28,292 --> 00:34:32,708 Tropicana's revenue has increased to 121 million. 700 00:34:32,708 --> 00:34:37,250 That's four times what the revenue was just 10 years ago, 701 00:34:37,250 --> 00:34:38,792 - [Narrator] And it's finally getting the attention 702 00:34:38,792 --> 00:34:40,417 of Minute Maid's new owners. 703 00:34:42,250 --> 00:34:45,125 - Up until this point, Coca-Cola was not really worried 704 00:34:45,125 --> 00:34:48,125 about Tropicana's effect on Minute Maid sales. 705 00:34:48,125 --> 00:34:50,250 - But it's not just Tropicana sales 706 00:34:50,250 --> 00:34:52,875 that has Coca-Cola concerned. 707 00:34:52,875 --> 00:34:54,500 It's also their latest innovation. 708 00:34:55,542 --> 00:34:57,625 - So the orange juice industry takes a cue 709 00:34:57,625 --> 00:35:00,542 from the milk industry in the 1970s. 710 00:35:00,542 --> 00:35:02,750 Milk producers made a major shift. 711 00:35:02,750 --> 00:35:06,708 They switched from packaging milk in heavy glass bottles 712 00:35:06,708 --> 00:35:10,333 to using these wax paper rectangular boxes 713 00:35:10,333 --> 00:35:12,000 of the sort that we see today. 714 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:13,750 It's a big deal for orange juice, 715 00:35:13,750 --> 00:35:17,042 because it makes more packages be able to be on the shelf 716 00:35:17,042 --> 00:35:21,083 and it is cheaper and easier to transport. 717 00:35:21,958 --> 00:35:22,750 - This is it. 718 00:35:24,708 --> 00:35:27,333 - And that caught Minute Maid's attention 719 00:35:27,333 --> 00:35:30,500 because now Tropicana was actually gaining share. 720 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:32,500 - Tropicana was creeping up on them. 721 00:35:38,042 --> 00:35:41,875 - This is good, this is too good. 722 00:35:46,125 --> 00:35:47,333 If we can't make it taste like theirs, 723 00:35:47,333 --> 00:35:49,625 can we at least make it look like theirs? 724 00:35:52,667 --> 00:35:55,208 - Previously Minute Maid and Tropicana 725 00:35:55,208 --> 00:35:57,458 sort of had their own sections of the grocery store 726 00:35:57,458 --> 00:35:59,333 with Minute Maid being in the freezer section 727 00:35:59,333 --> 00:36:03,208 and Tropicana being in the fresh section, but not anymore. 728 00:36:03,208 --> 00:36:06,375 - [Narrator] In 1973 to to compete with Tropicana, 729 00:36:06,375 --> 00:36:09,167 Minute Maid starts making an already constituted version 730 00:36:09,167 --> 00:36:11,500 of their juice sold in cartons. 731 00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:13,083 - And honestly, the carton makes you feel 732 00:36:13,083 --> 00:36:15,083 almost like it's freshly squeezed, right? 733 00:36:15,083 --> 00:36:16,583 Because you don't have to add anything to it. 734 00:36:16,583 --> 00:36:18,917 - So Minute Maid now has a product 735 00:36:18,917 --> 00:36:20,292 that's cheaper to produce, 736 00:36:20,292 --> 00:36:22,458 but they convince the public that it's the same 737 00:36:22,458 --> 00:36:26,542 as Tropicana's freshly pasteurized juice. 738 00:36:26,542 --> 00:36:28,250 - [Narrator] Not only are they now packaging their juice 739 00:36:28,250 --> 00:36:30,083 to look like Tropicana's, 740 00:36:30,083 --> 00:36:32,917 they make bold claims that it tastes better. 741 00:36:32,917 --> 00:36:35,208 For Tropicana, making claims about their quality 742 00:36:35,208 --> 00:36:38,167 is a declaration of war. 743 00:36:38,167 --> 00:36:40,042 And Anthony Rossi intends to make sure 744 00:36:40,042 --> 00:36:44,167 his company is ready for battle. 745 00:36:50,958 --> 00:36:52,167 By the late seventies Minute Maid, 746 00:36:52,167 --> 00:36:55,292 now owned by beverage giant Coca-Cola, 747 00:36:55,292 --> 00:36:57,542 is fighting to stay ahead of Tropicana 748 00:36:57,542 --> 00:37:00,208 by offering reconstituted chilled juice 749 00:37:00,208 --> 00:37:03,375 and even claiming to be superior in taste. 750 00:37:03,375 --> 00:37:07,708 - Minute Maid relied on their frozen concentrate technique 751 00:37:07,708 --> 00:37:10,792 to be able to make up for the variations of taste 752 00:37:10,792 --> 00:37:14,375 of the different oranges throughout the growing year. 753 00:37:14,375 --> 00:37:17,833 So it would result in a much more consistent product, 754 00:37:17,833 --> 00:37:20,875 one that they felt was of higher quality. 755 00:37:22,208 --> 00:37:24,250 - [Narrator] Despite Tropicana's success, 756 00:37:24,250 --> 00:37:26,458 Rossi knows they won't be able to fight back 757 00:37:26,458 --> 00:37:29,208 against the deep pockets of Coca-Cola. 758 00:37:29,208 --> 00:37:31,208 - They was such a massive company with so many 759 00:37:31,208 --> 00:37:33,208 advertising dollars at their disposal. 760 00:37:34,542 --> 00:37:36,583 - [Narrator] So the timing is right when another food giant 761 00:37:36,583 --> 00:37:40,750 approaches Rossi about buying Tropicana. 762 00:37:40,750 --> 00:37:43,542 - Beatrice was a Chicago based food conglomerate 763 00:37:43,542 --> 00:37:45,250 and they owned things like Dannon yogurt, 764 00:37:45,250 --> 00:37:48,125 and Country Line cheese, and they were making 765 00:37:48,125 --> 00:37:50,625 major expansions at this point in time. 766 00:37:50,625 --> 00:37:54,958 - Beatrice came in and offered him $490 million. 767 00:37:54,958 --> 00:37:57,250 So he said, okay. 768 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:01,958 - [Narrator] Anthony Rossi retires at the age of 78. 769 00:38:01,958 --> 00:38:04,792 devoting his wealth and the remainder of his life 770 00:38:04,792 --> 00:38:06,875 to philanthropy. 771 00:38:06,875 --> 00:38:09,667 - Anthony Rossi had a vision of excellence 772 00:38:09,667 --> 00:38:14,208 and the determination to make it happen 773 00:38:14,208 --> 00:38:15,500 no matter what the cost. 774 00:38:18,042 --> 00:38:19,542 - [Narrator] Now without its founder, 775 00:38:19,542 --> 00:38:22,583 it's up to Tropicana's new CEO Spencer Volke 776 00:38:22,583 --> 00:38:24,875 to guide the company through it's bitter battle 777 00:38:24,875 --> 00:38:26,375 with Minute Maid. 778 00:38:26,375 --> 00:38:28,458 - Volke has a background in consumer marketing. 779 00:38:28,458 --> 00:38:30,917 He was a brand manager at Proctor and Gamble 780 00:38:30,917 --> 00:38:32,625 and then 14 years of Pepsi-Cola, 781 00:38:32,625 --> 00:38:35,833 and he was brought in to deal with the threat 782 00:38:35,833 --> 00:38:38,667 that Minute Maid was posing to Tropicana at this point. 783 00:38:41,833 --> 00:38:45,000 Right away, Volke returned to Tropicana's roots, 784 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:48,792 focusing on what Rossi was inspired by in the first place, 785 00:38:48,792 --> 00:38:51,667 which was freshly squeezed orange juice. 786 00:38:52,833 --> 00:38:55,375 - [Narrator] Volke wants Tropicana to taste so fresh 787 00:38:55,375 --> 00:38:56,542 that the difference between it 788 00:38:56,542 --> 00:38:59,292 and Minute Maid is undeniable. 789 00:39:00,583 --> 00:39:02,583 - What if we kept all the orange bits? 790 00:39:04,458 --> 00:39:05,417 - The pulp? 791 00:39:07,042 --> 00:39:08,292 You want to keep the pulp? 792 00:39:11,750 --> 00:39:13,500 - So if you're gonna be like fresh squeezed, 793 00:39:13,500 --> 00:39:14,958 you want to have pulp in there. 794 00:39:16,375 --> 00:39:18,708 - The pulp or the the little juice sacks 795 00:39:18,708 --> 00:39:20,583 and all that other stuff that that you get 796 00:39:20,583 --> 00:39:22,708 when you squeeze juice had to be removed 797 00:39:22,708 --> 00:39:26,708 before this flash pasteurization process, 798 00:39:26,708 --> 00:39:29,542 because if they didn't, these little sacks would burst, 799 00:39:29,542 --> 00:39:33,542 and again, potentially release enzymes, 800 00:39:33,542 --> 00:39:35,583 which would destroy the flavor. 801 00:39:37,667 --> 00:39:39,583 - [Narrator] Tropicana scientists realize 802 00:39:39,583 --> 00:39:41,667 they can preserve pulp before heating, 803 00:39:41,667 --> 00:39:43,750 and add it back before packaging. 804 00:39:45,125 --> 00:39:47,833 - The trick was to separate the pulp out of the juice. 805 00:39:47,833 --> 00:39:51,125 So we set up a system of capturing 806 00:39:51,125 --> 00:39:54,000 the small intct cells. That worked. 807 00:39:55,292 --> 00:39:56,708 - [Narrator] But their new findings, 808 00:39:56,708 --> 00:39:59,625 Tropicana is poised to crack the industry wide open. 809 00:40:00,750 --> 00:40:03,417 - Tropicana introduced "Homestyle" in 1985. 810 00:40:03,417 --> 00:40:04,708 - [Announcer] Introducing new 811 00:40:04,708 --> 00:40:06,708 Tropicana Homestyle orange juice. 812 00:40:06,708 --> 00:40:09,042 - And it took off like a rocket ship. 813 00:40:11,875 --> 00:40:14,542 - They offer orange juice with varying levels of pulp 814 00:40:14,542 --> 00:40:16,583 so that everybody can decide which level of pulp 815 00:40:16,583 --> 00:40:18,500 is just right for them. 816 00:40:19,875 --> 00:40:23,583 - So what happened was that dad liked the heavy pulp, 817 00:40:23,583 --> 00:40:26,708 and the kids didn't like the hair in the juice. 818 00:40:26,708 --> 00:40:30,917 So what did Mom do? She bought two bottles. 819 00:40:30,917 --> 00:40:32,875 - [Narrator] With all the success of Home Style, 820 00:40:32,875 --> 00:40:35,458 Tropicana is primed to topple Minute Maid 821 00:40:35,458 --> 00:40:37,750 with a new marketing campaign. 822 00:40:37,750 --> 00:40:39,833 - They come up with what is still one 823 00:40:39,833 --> 00:40:43,167 of the most iconic marketing phrases of all time. 824 00:40:43,167 --> 00:40:46,667 Not from concentrate. 825 00:40:48,083 --> 00:40:50,042 They don't even have to say it, 826 00:40:50,042 --> 00:40:53,042 but the implication is that concentrate is bad, 827 00:40:53,042 --> 00:40:56,792 which is a direct blow against Minute Maid. 828 00:40:56,792 --> 00:40:59,542 - [Narrator] In 1990, the first time in history, 829 00:41:00,833 --> 00:41:02,875 Tropicana passed Minute Maid in the orange juice market, 830 00:41:02,875 --> 00:41:07,417 claiming a 22.3% share of the $3 billion marketplace 831 00:41:07,417 --> 00:41:10,542 over Minute Maid's 22.2%, 832 00:41:10,542 --> 00:41:14,583 making Tropicana the victor of the orange juice wars. 833 00:41:16,208 --> 00:41:19,208 Today, the orange juice market in the US alone brings 834 00:41:19,208 --> 00:41:21,125 in over $10 billion a year, 835 00:41:21,125 --> 00:41:25,792 with Americans drinking over 530,000 metric tons. 836 00:41:25,792 --> 00:41:27,042 - We take for granted the fact 837 00:41:27,042 --> 00:41:30,042 that orange juice is just part of a staple, 838 00:41:30,042 --> 00:41:31,458 healthy breakfast. 839 00:41:31,458 --> 00:41:34,000 But how that stable came about really is a story 840 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,750 of how military technology actually makes its way 841 00:41:37,750 --> 00:41:39,750 to our kitchen table. 842 00:41:39,750 --> 00:41:43,542 - Orange juice is as part of breakfast as the rising sun is. 843 00:41:43,542 --> 00:41:45,375 - [Narrator] To this day, 844 00:41:45,375 --> 00:41:47,125 Tropicana is still the number one orange juice 845 00:41:47,125 --> 00:41:48,542 in the country, 846 00:41:48,542 --> 00:41:51,583 with annual worldwide sales of nearly $900 million. 847 00:41:52,792 --> 00:41:54,750 - It's not an exaggeration to say that Tropicana 848 00:41:54,750 --> 00:41:56,875 raised the bar on orange juice. 849 00:41:56,875 --> 00:41:58,667 - [Narrator] While they never reclaimed 850 00:41:58,667 --> 00:42:00,042 their spot at the top, 851 00:42:00,042 --> 00:42:02,625 Minute Maid brings in nearly $200 million 852 00:42:02,625 --> 00:42:04,375 in annual orange juice sales 853 00:42:04,375 --> 00:42:05,792 under the name Minute Maid, 854 00:42:05,792 --> 00:42:08,542 and another $700 million through their subsidiary, 855 00:42:08,542 --> 00:42:10,083 Simply Orange. 856 00:42:10,083 --> 00:42:12,833 Across Minute Maid's various juice products, 857 00:42:12,833 --> 00:42:15,833 the biggest fruit juice producer in the world. 858 00:42:15,833 --> 00:42:18,167 - Tropicana may be number one, 859 00:42:18,167 --> 00:42:19,875 but we have Minute Maid to thank 860 00:42:19,875 --> 00:42:21,708 for bringing orange juice to the masses. 861 00:42:21,708 --> 00:42:24,042 Without them breakfast wouldn't be the same. 862 00:42:24,042 --> 00:42:26,625 And that's the true Minute Maid legacy.