Citrus Hill
Encyclopedia
Citrus Hill was a brand of orange juice
introduced by Procter & Gamble
in the United States
market in 1983, later used for other fruit juices and beverages.
The launch of Citrus Hill occurred when P&G acquired a Florida-based company and created a brand to sell its juice products under, with national distribution. This thrust P&G into the competitive orange juice market, dominated by Minute Maid
and Tropicana Products
. Procter & Gamble hoped to differentiate themselves from the other major brands by marketing Citrus Hill as a premium product, which proved unsuccessful in a segment with technology limiting the 1980s orange juice market to made-from-concentrate products of generally equal quality differentiated by price and perceived value. Citrus Hill had the distinction of introducing the first calcium-enriched orange juice in 1986, which was largely met with indifference from consumers.
Citrus Hill would trudge along in a distant third place throughout its life, and a desperate attempt at rebranding would spell the demise for the brand. In 1990, Citrus Hill changed the name of its orange juice to Citrus Hill Fresh Select, with the word "Fresh" emphasized boldly and a small disclaimer stating that it was "Fresh from Concentrate."
In June 1990, Commissioner David Aaron Kessler
of the Food & Drug Administration declared that the use of "fresh" was a misnomer and a violation of 1963 rules governing processed orange juice, which P&G denied. The FDA would exchange correspondence with Procter & Gamble from that point forward while Citrus Hill continued with the same marketing, but negotiations broke down on April 24, 1991. The same day, the FDA seized 12,000 gallons of Fresh Select orange juice from a warehouse in Minneapolis stating that it was improperly labeled and that their claims of "fresh" were false advertising.
P&G agreed to stop using the term "fresh" to describe its juice, but at that point, the seizure had become headline news nationwide. Footage of Citrus Hill juice being seized during television news broadcasts and in newspaper pictures decimated consumer confidence in the brand and affected sales heavily.
The brand was gradually wound down, and efforts to find a buyer proved unsuccessful.
In 1994, PepsiCo
would license the Citrus Hill brand for a line of fruit-flavoured fountain beverages, which ended when Pepsi acquired Tropicana in 1998 and rebranded the drink line to the Tropicana brand. The former Citrus Hill processing facility in Florida is now owned by Cargill
.
Orange juice
Orange juice is a popular beverage made from oranges. It is made by extraction from the fresh fruit, by desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice, or by concentration of the juice and the subsequent addition of water to the concentrate...
introduced by Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
market in 1983, later used for other fruit juices and beverages.
The launch of Citrus Hill occurred when P&G acquired a Florida-based company and created a brand to sell its juice products under, with national distribution. This thrust P&G into the competitive orange juice market, dominated by Minute Maid
Minute Maid
Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but now extends to soft drinks of many kinds, including Hi-C...
and Tropicana Products
Tropicana Products
Tropicana Products is an American based company, and was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida, U.S.A. Since 1998, it has been owned by PepsiCo, Inc. Tropicana's headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois.-Anthony T. Rossi:...
. Procter & Gamble hoped to differentiate themselves from the other major brands by marketing Citrus Hill as a premium product, which proved unsuccessful in a segment with technology limiting the 1980s orange juice market to made-from-concentrate products of generally equal quality differentiated by price and perceived value. Citrus Hill had the distinction of introducing the first calcium-enriched orange juice in 1986, which was largely met with indifference from consumers.
Citrus Hill would trudge along in a distant third place throughout its life, and a desperate attempt at rebranding would spell the demise for the brand. In 1990, Citrus Hill changed the name of its orange juice to Citrus Hill Fresh Select, with the word "Fresh" emphasized boldly and a small disclaimer stating that it was "Fresh from Concentrate."
In June 1990, Commissioner David Aaron Kessler
David Aaron Kessler
David Aaron Kessler is an American pediatrician, lawyer, author, and administrator...
of the Food & Drug Administration declared that the use of "fresh" was a misnomer and a violation of 1963 rules governing processed orange juice, which P&G denied. The FDA would exchange correspondence with Procter & Gamble from that point forward while Citrus Hill continued with the same marketing, but negotiations broke down on April 24, 1991. The same day, the FDA seized 12,000 gallons of Fresh Select orange juice from a warehouse in Minneapolis stating that it was improperly labeled and that their claims of "fresh" were false advertising.
P&G agreed to stop using the term "fresh" to describe its juice, but at that point, the seizure had become headline news nationwide. Footage of Citrus Hill juice being seized during television news broadcasts and in newspaper pictures decimated consumer confidence in the brand and affected sales heavily.
The brand was gradually wound down, and efforts to find a buyer proved unsuccessful.
In 1994, PepsiCo
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
would license the Citrus Hill brand for a line of fruit-flavoured fountain beverages, which ended when Pepsi acquired Tropicana in 1998 and rebranded the drink line to the Tropicana brand. The former Citrus Hill processing facility in Florida is now owned by Cargill
Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2011, number 13 on the Fortune 500,...
.