Arizona Beverages USA (stylized as AriZona) is an American producer of many flavors of

iced tea Iced tea (or ice tea) is a form of cold tea. Though it is usually served in a glass with ice, it can refer to any tea that has been chilled or cooled. It may be sweetened with sugar or syrup. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink that can be ...

, juice cocktails, and energy drinks based in Woodbury, New York. Arizona's first product was made available in 1992, to compete with

Snapple Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper and based in Plano, Texas, United States. The company (and brand), which was originally known as Unadulterated Food Products, was founded in 1972. The brand achieved som ...

. Both companies originated in New York. Arizona is known for its "Big Can" drinks holding 23

fl. oz. A fluid ounce (abbreviated fl oz, fl. oz. or oz. fl., old forms ℥, fl ℥, f℥, ƒ ℥) is a unit of volume (also called ''capacity'') typically used for measuring Liquid, liquids. The imperial units, British Imperial, the United States custo ...

(680 ml) of iced teas, juice drinks and other beverages that retail for around the price of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

0.99 in the United States and C$1.29 in Canada. Their beverages also come in 16 oz, 11.5 oz, as well as a 128 oz (gallon) of AriZona. The "

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

blend" of iced tea and lemonade has been commercially available since the 1990s, though Arizona has since risen to become the most popular primary distributor of the beverage, with over $100 million in sales in 2010. Arizona also distributes packed trays of tortilla chip products, consisting of "Nachos 'n' Cheese" and "Salsa 'n' Chips". In 2020, the company introduced a line of

fruit snack A fruit snack is a type of Gummy candy, gummy snack made with fruit flavoring. They were first made by confectioner Louis Shalhoub in the 1970s as a lightweight high energy snack food for backpackers. Although they are marketed as a healthier alt ...

s in mixed fruit, Arnold Palmer, and green tea varieties.

History

The company roots trace back to 1971 when friends

John Ferolito John Ferolito is an American entrepreneur who is co-founder of the Arizona Beverage Company, maker of Arizona Iced Tea. AriZona Iced Tea Ferolito joined with partner Don Vultaggio in the 1970s to establish a Brooklyn-based discount beer and soda ...

and

Don Vultaggio Domenick "Don" Vultaggio (born 1951/1952) is an American billionaire businessman, the co-founder of Arizona Beverage Company. As of August 2022, his net worth was estimated at US$4.4 billion. Early life Vultaggio grew up in Flatbush, a workin ...

opened a beverage distribution business in Brooklyn, New York. The company was a successful beer distributor. In 1990, they saw the success of

(also a Brooklyn-based company founded in the 1970s) bottled juices and teas, and attempted to make their product. In 1992, they produced the first bottles of their own AriZona teas."AriZona History"
, AriZona website Vultaggio said the name was originally Santa Fe, in response to the adobe-style house he lived in, but he felt it didn't look right on the packaging. He went with Arizona even though he had never been to the state and, in fact, hadn't even traveled west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. The price has remained at $0.99 even with rising costs for the company.

References

External links

Arizona Beverage Company official website
{{Portal bar, Drink Companies based in Nassau County, New York Drink companies of the United States Energy drinks Iced tea brands Soft drinks manufacturers