Anthony T, Rossi immigrated to the United States from Sicily when he was 21. He settled in Palmetto and began packing fruit gift boxes under the name Manatee River Packing Company.
He began packaging and selling fresh fruit to department stores, hotels and restaurants throughout the United States. As the business grew, the company moved to East Bradenton and became Fruit Industries, supplying the ingredients for among other things, the salads at New York’s famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Rossi began producing frozen concentrate orange juice in 1952 and branded them Tropicana Pure Premium. The line is so successful that i8n 1957 Rossi renames the company Tropical Products, Inc.
In 1954 Tropicana engineer developed flash pasteurization, a process that preserved the fresh taste of the juice. The process uses a lower temperature than regular pasteurization, but heats the liquid for a longer period of time.
In 1978 founder Rossi retired and the company was sold to Beatrice.
Beatrice paid $490 million on July 11, 1978 to acquire Tropicana. The company was later acquired by PepsiCo in 1998.
History of Tropicana Products Inc.
