Orangina () is a lightly carbonated beverage made from carbonated water, 12% citrus juice (10% from concentrated
orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, 2% from a combination of concentrated
lemon
The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China.
The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...
, concentrated
mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
, and concentrated
grapefruit
The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink.
Grapefruit is ...
juices), as well as 2% orange pulp. Orangina is sweetened with sugar or high fructose corn syrup (glucose fructose) and natural flavors are added.
Orangina was developed by Augustin Trigo Mirallès in 1933 in French Algeria. Today it is a popular beverage in Europe (especially France and Switzerland), Japan,
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, and to a lesser extent in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
Since November 2009, Orangina has been owned by
Suntory in most of the world.
In the United States and Canada, the brand has been owned by Suntory and licensed to Ventures Food and Beverage since 2020.
Previously, it was made by
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (also called Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.) was an American multinational soft drink company based in Plano, Texas, and as of July 2018 it is a business unit of the publicly traded conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper.
Formerly Cadbury S ...
and
Canada Dry Motts Inc.
History
Orangina was developed in 1933 by Spanish
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
Augustin Trigo from
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
as Naranjina. It was presented at the 1936
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
Trade Fair. The drink was created from a mix of citrus juice,
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
, and
carbonated water
Carbonated water (also known as soda water, sparkling water, fizzy water, club soda, water with gas, in many places as mineral water, or especially in the United States as seltzer or seltzer water) is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, ...
.
It was later called TriNaranjus (now, TriNa) for the Spanish market.
French businessman Léon Beton bought the concept and recipe for Naranjina in 1935.
However, the outbreak of major conflicts, notably
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, largely sidelined Beton's attempts to market his drink in Europe.
[
His son, ]Jean-Claude Beton
Jean-Claude Beton (January 14, 1925 – December 2, 2013) was an Algerian-born French businessman, agricultural engineer and entrepreneur. Beton was the founder of the French soft drink maker, Orangina. He is credited with transforming Orangina f ...
, took over the company from his father in 1947. Jean-Claude Beton kept most of the original recipe, which he marketed to appeal to European and North African consumers.[ Orangina quickly became a common beverage throughout ]North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
.[ In 1951, Jean-Claude Beton introduced Orangina's signature 8-ounce bottle, which became a symbol of the brand.][ The bottle recalls the rounded shape of an ]orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, with a glass texture designed to mimic the fruit.[
Production was moved to ]Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
in metropolitan France
Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
in 1962 in the run-up to Algeria's independence.[ Orangina was first launched in the United States in 1978 under the brand name Orelia, which was later reverted to Orangina.][ The company, created by Beton, joined the Pernod Ricard group in 1984.
In 2000, the Orangina brand was acquired by ]Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...
along with Pernod Ricard's other soda
Soda or SODA may refer to:
Chemistry
* Some chemical compounds containing sodium
** Sodium carbonate, washing soda or soda ash
** Sodium bicarbonate, baking soda
** Sodium hydroxide, caustic soda
** Sodium oxide, an alkali metal oxide
* Sod ...
businesses, after an attempt to sell to Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
was blocked on anti competitive grounds. In 2006, Cadbury plc
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...
decided to concentrate on the chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
business and sought buyers for its soda business. As the number three soda producer globally, neither of the bigger two (Coca-Cola or PepsiCo
PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...
) could buy it, so eventually the company was split up to sell.
North America
In the United States, the brand was for some time owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (also called Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.) was an American multinational soft drink company based in Plano, Texas, and as of July 2018 it is a business unit of the publicly traded conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper.
Formerly Cadbury S ...
Inc (now Keurig Dr Pepper
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts. Formed in ...
), created as a spin off of Cadbury Schweppes' former North American soft drinks business. The drink was introduced in the United States in 1978, under the name Orelia, but this name was abandoned in favour of the original in 1985.
Orangina was originally produced for the North American market in Canada, but the operation was moved to Hialeah
Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Mi ...
, Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, United States, to be produced under license by Mott's LLP of Rye Brook
Rye Brook is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, within the town of Rye. The population was 9,347 at the 2010 census.
Rye Brook has been designated as a Tree City USA for 14 years.
History
Rye Brook is located in sout ...
, New York.
Production of Orangina has since moved back to Canada, as Mott's is now part of Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). As with other carbonated beverages in the US market, Orangina for the United States is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), also known as glucose–fructose, isoglucose and glucose–fructose syrup, is a sweetener made from corn starch. As in the production of conventional corn syrup, the starch is broken down into glucose by enzy ...
, instead of regular sugar like original Orangina, to meet US regulations on the import of sugar-containing products. Orangina for the Canadian market is labelled as being sweetened with sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
and glucose-fructose. In Canada, Orangina sweetened only with sugar was also imported by Canada Dry Motts from Europe.
Since 2020, Suntory has assumed the brand in North America and licensing it to Ventures Foods and Beverage.
Rest of the world
From 2006, private equity firms Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
and Lion Capital LLP
Lion Capital LLP is a British private equity firm specialising in investments in the consumer sector. Previous and current consumer brands owned by Lion have included Weetabix, Jimmy Choo, Wagamama, Kettle Foods and AllSaints.
The firm is headq ...
owned the brand outside North America under the company name Orangina Schweppes. In November 2009, its ownership changed once again when it was bought by Japanese brewer Suntory. In Great Britain, it was formerly manufactured under licence by A.G. Barr
A.G. Barr plc, commonly known as Barr's, is a soft drink manufacturer based in Cumbernauld, Scotland. It is widely known for manufacturing the drink Irn-Bru. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Ind ...
of Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, most famous for Irn-Bru
Irn-Bru ( "iron brew", ) is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as "Scotland's other national drink" (after whisky). Introduced in 1901, the drink is produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, by A.G. Barr of Glasgo ...
, this has recently been taken in house by Suntory subsidiary Lucozade
Lucozade is a British brand of soft drink manufactured and marketed by the Japanese company Suntory. Created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle pharmacist, William Walker Hunter (trading as W. Owen & Son), it was acquired by the B ...
Ribena
Ribena ( ) is a brand of blackcurrant-based soft drink (both uncarbonated and carbonated), and fruit drink concentrate designed to be mixed with water. It is available in bottles, cans and multi-packs. Originally of British origin, it was prod ...
Suntory
Orangina is produced in Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
by Fosters Vietnam under licence and is sold in Carrefour
Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...
branches in Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. It is produced in Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
by Shemshad Noosh Co.
Brand owners and distributors
Packaging
The brand is famous for the design of its 25 cl (8 oz) bottle made in the shape of a pear with a pebbly texture meant to recall the peel of an orange or other citrus fruit. Larger bottles also include the pebbly texture but use a more regular bottle shape rather than maintaining the proportions of the smaller bottles.
Varieties
New flavours have emerged in Europe including Orangina Sanguine
Sanguine () or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown colour, so called because it resembles the colour of dried blood. It has been popular for centuries for drawing (where white chalk only works on coloured paper). The word comes via French fr ...
which is made from blood oranges
The Blood Oranges were an American alternative country band that formed in the late 1980s.
The founding members were Jim Ryan (acoustic and electric mandolin, guitar, and vocals), Bob Kendall (bass guitar) then replaced by Liz Wood (later L ...
and also contains caffeine
Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...
and guarana
Guaraná ( from the Portuguese ''guaraná'' ), ''Paullinia cupana'', syns. ''P. crysan, P. sorbilis'') is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and cl ...
. It is significantly more sour than regular Orangina. Other flavours such as the series called "les givrés" (which can be translated as both "frosted" and "crazy") are also available in Europe, but rarely seen in North America. The sugar free variant "Miss O" was launched in the 2010s.
In Tunisia, multiple flavors of Orangina are sold as Orangina Rouge, similar to the European Orangina Sanguine, and Orangina Light as a sugar free variant.
Advertising
The pulp at the bottom of the bottles was a big flaw compared to its competitors. It therefore took an original marketing positioning, which transformed this defect into a quality, with the "Shake me" advertisements.
In 2010, a gay-friendly Orangina commercial was released in France, a few weeks after a McDonald's advertisement featuring a gay teenager was shown on French television.
Controversy
In 2008, a commercial featuring anthropomorphic animals
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
(such as a deer, a bear, peacocks, and chameleons) in swimsuits, caused outrage in the United Kingdom, for its sexually suggestive content. In the video, the animals gyrate around poles, spray the drink onto the breasts of other animals, and ride bottles which then explode. The advert had already had 45 seconds of more provocative footage cut, and was only to be shown after the 9 o'clock watershed, initially during a programme titled ''How to Look Good Naked
''How to Look Good Naked'' is a television program, first aired on British Channel 4 in 2006, in which fashion stylist Gok Wan encourages women and men who are insecure with their bodies to strip nude for the camera. The programme is unique am ...
''.
Kidscape
Kidscape is a London-based charity established in 1985, by child psychologist Michele Elliott. Its focus is on children's safety, with an emphasis on the prevention of harm by equipping children with techniques and mindsets that help them stay ...
, a children's charity based in the country, criticised the advert, saying, "Orangina is a drink which is mainly aimed at children and young people, but this new advert places the product in a very sexualised and provocative context". The advert was also awarded "Freakiest Advert of 2008", and was seventh place in "Worst TV Ad of 2008".
Others claim that Orangina is not targeted just at children and is also a "leading adult soft drink" and that the advertisement is intended to create controversy and thus free publicity. The advertisement was popular, and by April 2008 had three million online viewings.
See also
*Orange drink
The term orange drink refers to a sweet, sugary, sometimes carbonated, orange-flavored drink.
Typically such beverages contain little or no orange juice and are mainly composed of water, sugar or sweeteners, flavor, coloring, and additives, som ...
References
External links
International website
(English/French)
A history of Orangina
(French)
{{Suntory
Food and drink companies established in 1935
Products introduced in 1935
Algerian drinks
French drinks
Citrus sodas
Orange sodas
Private equity portfolio companies
Suntory