How Tropicana Changed The Way People Make Orange Juice

Whether you're pouring it from a carton or mixing it into a mimosa (cheers!), orange juice is one of the most popular flavors of juice in the United States, second only to apple juice, according to results from Statista. The tangy, citrusy beverage is the breakfast drink of choice for many kids and adults alike — and there are so many different ways to enjoy it. With pulp or without. Served over ice or drunken neat. Original flavor or something more fun like pineapple or mango.

For as many varieties there are, there are also plenty of brands to choose from. One of the biggest and most common ones you'll find at the grocery store is Tropicana. Bringing Americans "bottled sunshine" for over 70 years since it first started in 1947, according to its site, Tropicana is known for more than just the delicious juice you drink every morning. The brand also completely changed the juice industry with its innovative ideas.

According to its site, the first thing Tropicana — and more specifically its founder, Anthony T. Rossi — brought to the orange juice industry was flash pasteurization. Pasteurizing juice is what kills bacteria and other microorganisms to make the juice safer to drink (via Michigan State University). Tropicana explains that the flash pasteurization process it invented reduces the amount of time the juice is exposed to heat to retain as much flavor and nutrition as possible.

Later, in 1970, Tropicana also reinvented the shipping methods for orange juice to help it stay fresher for longer. Rossi came up with the idea to transport the bottles from Florida to New York via insulated boxcars. It quickly became known as the "juice train" and continues to be part of the Tropicana story. "[Rossi] figured out how to bring OJ to people beyond just where it's grown and so this is a story that we're really proud of, proud that it was an idea born here in the U.S., and we're proud that we continue to make it here in the U.S.," Becca Kerr, the vice president and general manager of Tropicana North America, told ABC.