Minute Maid

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, 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.
The company was originally incorporated in 1945 as Florida Foods, Inc, then later became Vacuum Foods Corporation. It employs over 1,900 people and has over $2 billion in sales (1997 est.).
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, Florida Foods Corporation won a government contract worth $750,000 for 500,000 lb (227,000 kg) of powdered orange juice for the war. The war ended and the contract was canceled before the factory could be built, but with investment, the company moved forward with a product.
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.
The first shipment took place in April 1946. The same month, the company was renamed Vacuum Foods Corporation. With limited funds for advertising, Fox himself went door to door giving free samples, until demand skyrocketed. 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:
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.
In October 1949, the company adopted the name Minute Maid Corp. In late 1954, Minute Maid purchased rival Snow Crop.
The Minute Maid company was purchased by Coca-Cola in 1960.
In 1967, Minute Maid relocated to Houston, Texas, and joined with Duncan Foods to form the Coca-Cola Foods division.
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. In response to the bad press and a boycott in Florida, the company established a program that improved the workers' situation.
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.
In 1996, the company's name was changed from Minute Maid Corp. to The Minute Maid Company.
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.
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".
In 2002, Minute Maid bought the naming rights to re-brand the Houston Astros ballpark from Enron Field to Minute Maid Park.
In 2003, Minute Maid's division fully merged with Coca-Cola North America.
In Australia, Minute Maid is marketed as Keri Juice Co.
In Costa Rica Minute Maid sells Hi-C products.
Marketed under the name 美汁源(MěiZhīYuán) with the following variants:
juice/nectar: apple, apricot, peach
Minute Maid - Tropical Contains a mixture of tropical fruits
Now available in Boost (Value added with milk and Vitamins) and Nutri Defensus,
In New Zealand, Minute Maid is marketed as Keri Juice Co.
Minute Maid entered the Pakistani market in 2008. Here they have used the same advertising concept as they have used in India i.e. "where is the pulp?".
Marketed under the brand Cappy and has the following assortments:
Minute Maid is marketed under the brand "Моя семья" (eng. "My family"). Also Minute Maid Pulpy Orange is selling under the brand "Добрый" (eng. "Kind")
In September 2024, Coca-Cola issued a recall on an estimated 13,152 cases of mislabeled Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade for containing sugar.
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, 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.
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. Then, in January 2008, Minute Maid announced plans to move its headquarters to Sugar Land. 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.
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.