Tropicana Products - Making The Juice

Making The Juice

Tropicana works with more than 12 established Florida groves, which are selected for sandy soil conditions and advanced irrigation practices. The company is the largest single buyer of Florida fruit and processes about 60 million boxes of fruit. Once the fruit is picked, oranges are hand graded and any fruit that doesn’t meet quality inspections is removed.

The oranges are then washed and the orange oil is extracted from the peel to capture the from-the-orange taste, which are later blended into the juice for consistent quality and flavor. The oranges are squeezed and the fresh juice is flash pasteurized. Tropicana developed flash pasteurization to minimize the time the orange juice is exposed to heat while providing maximum nutrition and flavor.

Oranges have a limited growing season, and because there is demand for juice year round, an unspecified quantity of juice (some or potentially all) is deaerated and then stored for future packaging in chilled tanks to preserve quality. The aseptic tanks protect the juice from oxygen and light and hold the liquid at optimal temperatures just above freezing to maintain maximum nutrition. It has been reported that deaerated juice no longer tastes like oranges, and must be supplemented before consumption with orange oils. Tropicana also uses orange juice from Brazil to supplement the Florida crop. Pulp may be blended in at this point, too, depending on the product.

Tropicana's carton and plastic packaging are engineered to maintain quality and freshness. The company's packaging materials ensure the juice stays fresh inside the package by preventing outside moisture and light from affecting its quality.