Thursday, September 4, 2014

Is Orange Juice Packaging The Ultimate Science Project?

If you want the taste of fresh squeezed orange juice you need to squeeze your own oranges. If you think that isn’t true, please read on.

No matter what the bottle says, no matter what the hype you read or watch in the TV ads, the bottled orange juice is as much as a year old and is very much an industrial product. After being processed and stored (a much as and even more than a year) “Flavor Packs” are added to put a signature “Taste” back into the off the shelf product.

The buzzed words used on the packaging and the promotional ads are carefully chosen to reassure the buyer that they are getting a wholesome, fresh product. The carefully chosen “weasel” words don’t reflect the reality of the product.

No, we aren’t saying they are out-and-out lying.  They are just pulling the wool over your eyes so that you can’t see the truth. Basically, all of the customer base is realizing that too much of sodas are really bad for you, so consumer demand is shifting to healthy -- or at least healthy-seeming -- alternatives like fruit (orange) juice.

A recent investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek shows that the Simply Orange orange juice brand that's billed as less processed version of Tropicana is in fact a hyper-engineered and dauntingly industrial product. The factory in Florida where the bulk of these orange juice products are made sounds less like a bucolic grove where natural things grow than an oil refinery where natural things go to die.

To make sure they have plenty of product for year round deliver the company sucks the oxygen out of the juice when they send it to be mixed so that they can keep it around for a year or more to balance it out with other batches. Built into the model is a breakdown of the 600-plus flavors that are in orange juice that are tweaked throughout the year to keep flavor consistent and in line with consumer tastes.

What the consumer must learn is that in the U.S. most all companies process our food that is sold a typical grocery store chain. And just because consumers have been catching on to this fresh and natural trend the past couple of decades, that doesn't mean that the food and beverage industry is going to throw out the old ways of doing things. Especially, when there are billions of sales dollars on the line.

While the phrase “not from concentrate” may be somewhat accurate it hides the real fact that the orange juice in that bottle may just be an industrial product that is closer to the way oil is refined than it is to image conjured up by the advertising phrase “fresh squeezed orange juice”.

At Sunburst Oranges we know what “Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice” should mean.

Are you looking for the perfect real fresh gift for business associates, family or friends? A quick visit to http://sunburstoranges.com can solve all of your fresh gift giving adventures. We sell only the finest selections and the freshest citrus you can buy.

Presented By:
Sunburst Oranges
180 South “E” Street
Porterville, CA  93257
559-561-3391

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