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Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with orange juice, but now extends to soft drinks of many kinds, including Hi-C. Minute Maid was the first company to market orange juice concentrate, allowing it to be distributed nationwide and served year-round. The Minute Maid company is now owned by Coca-Cola, and is the world's largest marketer of fruit juices and drinks. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and employs 2,200 people. In 2002 the Houston Astros baseball team sold the naming rights for their venue, subsequently anointed Minute Maid Park, and the company now owns 8.5% of the team.
History The National Research Corporation (NRC) of Boston, Massachusetts developed a method of concentrating orange juice into a powder using a "high-vacuum process" in 1945. The US Army had a need for 500,000 pounds for the war, so NRC created a new branch, the Florida Food Corporation. Led by John M. Fox, the company won the government contract for $750,000. 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. A Boston marketing firm came up with the name Minute Maid, like Minutemen, implying the juice was quick and easy to prepare. With limited funds for advertising, Fox himself went door to door giving free samples, until demand skyrocketed. 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. The Minute Maid company was purchased by Coca-Cola in 1960. In 1973, the company released the first ready-to-drink, chilled orange juice product in the United States. Products | ||||||||
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