Minute Maid
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Minute Maid is an American brand of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but which now extends to soft drinks of different kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid is sold under the Cappy brand in Central Europe and under the brand "Моя Семья" (Moya sem'ya, "My Family") in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Minute Maid was the first company to market frozen orange juice concentrate,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite magazine</ref> allowing it to be distributed throughout the United States and served year-round. The Minute Maid Company is owned by The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest marketer of fruit juices and drinks. The firm opened its headquarters in Sugar Land Town Square in Sugar Land, Texas, United States, on February 16, 2009; previously it was headquartered in the 2000 St. James Place building in Houston.<ref name="HQOpen">Dawson, Jennifer. "Minute Maid headquarters opens in Sugar Land." Houston Business Journal. Monday February 16, 2009. Retrieved on February 16, 2009.</ref>
Overview
The company was originally incorporated in 1945 as Florida Foods, Inc, then later became Vacuum Foods Corporation.<ref name=":0" /> It employs over 1,900 people and has over $2 billion in sales (1997 est.).<ref name="history of minute maid">Template:Cite web</ref>
History
In 1945, the National Research Corporation (NRC) of Boston, Massachusetts, developed a method of dehydrating medical products for use in the U.S. war effort. The US Army wanted to extend this process to nutritious food, so NRC created a new subsidiary, the Florida Foods Corporation. Led by John M. Fox,<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> Florida Foods Corporation won a government contract worth $750,000 for 500,000 lb (227,000 kg) of powdered orange juice for the war.<ref name="history of minute maid" /> The war ended and the contract was canceled before the factory could be built, but with investment, the company moved forward with a product.<ref name="history of minute maid" />
Rather than selling powder to the public market, the company decided to create frozen orange juice concentrate, using a process that eliminated 80 percent of the water in orange juice. A Boston marketing firm H. A. Loudon Advertising came up with the name Minute Maid, implying the juice was quick and easy to prepare.<ref name="history of minute maid" />
The first shipment took place in April 1946. The same month, the company was renamed Vacuum Foods Corporation.<ref name=":0" /> With limited funds for advertising, Fox himself went door to door giving free samples, until demand skyrocketed.<ref name="history of minute maid" /> In October 1948, TIME magazine announced that entertainer Bing Crosby was to employ a 5-day a week radio show to promote Minute Maid. The magazine article gave further details:
"Minute Maid (retail price: 29¢ a pint and a half) got into the field first in 1945, at a new $2,300,000 plant in Plymouth, Fla. With little cash to advertise, it lost $450,262 the first two years. Last year it finally turned the corner. Says Vacuum’s President John M. Fox: “Why, this orange juice thing is the wonder of the grocery world. Ask anybody.” Anybody in the frozen food industry agreed—and Birds Eye, Snow Crop and others began to put out their own concentrate. Nevertheless, Vacuum’s sales increased so much that President Fox announced last week that the net profit for its last fiscal year was $179,865. Demand is so great, said Fox, that Vacuum has had to allocate shipments and is thinking of setting up a California plant. The shortage temporarily takes some of the bloom off the Crosby deal. But Vacuum hopes to step up output enough to fill the new orders Crosby will bring in. And in the scramble for the new market, Vacuum figures that Crosby is just the Pied Piper needed to lure customers away from the old brand names."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The Crosby radio show ran until October 1950 and the ability to purchase fresh-tasting orange juice at any time of year, far from where oranges are grown, proved popular, and led to the company's national success.<ref name="history of minute maid" />
In October 1949, the company adopted the name Minute Maid Corp.<ref name="history of minute maid" /> In late 1954, Minute Maid purchased rival Snow Crop.<ref>"Minute Maid Buys Snow Crop, $39.8 Mil." Billboard. December 11, 1954. Retrieved on April 19, 2017.</ref>
The Minute Maid company was purchased by Coca-Cola in 1960.<ref name="history of minute maid" />
In 1967, Minute Maid relocated to Houston, Texas, and joined with Duncan Foods to form the Coca-Cola Foods division. <ref name="DawsonBigfirms">Dawson, Jennifer. "Big Firms Moving to Suburbs, part II." Houston Business Journal. Friday July 27, 2007. Retrieved on June 17, 2009.</ref>
In 1970, the company was involved in a scandal in the United States about bad housing, often referred to as "slave quarters", and working conditions of Minute Maid farm laborers in Florida. The United Farm Workers stepped in to support the workers. NBC reported on the issue in a 1970 documentary called Chet Huntley's Migrant: An NBC White Paper.<ref>Roberta (Robbie) Jaffe 1972–1975; UFW in Florida</ref> In response to the bad press and a boycott in Florida, the company established a program that improved the workers' situation.Template:Cn
In 1973, the company released its first ready-to-drink, chilled orange juice product in the United States, entering an "orange juice war" with Tropicana.<ref name="history of minute maid" />
In 1996, the company's name was changed from Minute Maid Corp. to The Minute Maid Company.<ref name="history of minute maid" />
The Coca-Cola Company sold its Minute Maid orange groves in Florida in 1997. The United Farm Workers again took the side of the orange growers during this time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2001, the Minute Maid division of Coca-Cola launched the Simply Orange brand, which "uses a computer-modeled blending of citrus sources with the intent for the consumer to enjoy a uniform taste year-round".<ref name=":1" />
In 2002, Minute Maid bought the naming rights to re-brand the Houston Astros ballpark from Enron Field to Minute Maid Park.<ref name="DawsonBigfirms" />
In 2003, Minute Maid's division fully merged with Coca-Cola North America.<ref name="DawsonBigfirms" />
In September 2024, Coca-Cola issued a recall on an estimated 13,152 cases of mislabeled Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade for containing sugar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Headquarters
Minute Maid original offices were located in New York. John M Fox, president of the company announced on October 20, 1957, that Minute Maid Headquarters would be moved to a new building located on the corner of US 441 and Hwy Route 50 in Orlando, Florida.
Minute Maid has its headquarters in an office building in the Sugar Land Town Square development in First Colony,<ref name="BivinsDevJump">Bivins, Ralph. "Sugar Land Town Square developers at jumping-off point in project". Houston Chronicle. Wednesday September 27, 2000. Business 1. Retrieved on May 15, 2010.</ref> Sugar Land, Texas.
In 1985, The Coca-Cola Company purchased the 2000 St. James Place in Houston from Bechtel Corporation for Minute Maid. Minute Maid moved into the new office building the following year.<ref name="DawsonBigfirms"/>
In 2007, Coca-Cola retained New York-based Corporate Realty Consultants and Boyd Commercial LLC of Houston to sell 2000 St. James Place. The company negotiated with Planned Community Developers to lease an office building in Sugar Land Town Square.<ref name="DawsonBigfirms" /> Then, in January 2008, Minute Maid announced plans to move its headquarters to Sugar Land.<ref>"Minute Maid Selects Sugar Land for Relocation". Business Wire via Reuters. Press release. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.</ref> The headquarters building is located at Sugar Land's town center and opened on February 16, 2009. The city of Sugar Land gave the company a $2.4 million tax incentive to move its headquarters there.<ref>Dawson, Jennifer. "Minute Maid gets $2.4M incentive for move to Sugar Land". Houston Business Journal. January 21, 2008. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.</ref>
On March 6, 2021, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Coca-Cola announced it was closing Minute Maid's office in Sugar Land and would join the operations with the company's base in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
References
External links
- Pages with broken file links
- Juice brands
- Coca-Cola brands
- Drink companies of the United States
- Manufacturing companies based in Houston
- Companies based in Sugar Land, Texas
- American companies established in 1945
- Food and drink companies established in 1945
- 1945 establishments in Massachusetts
- American brands
- Food and drink companies based in Texas
- Coca-Cola acquisitions
- 1960 mergers and acquisitions
- Soft drinks