Back in the ‘80s, Tropicana coined the phrase “not from concentrate” to distinguish its juice from cheaper juices that are reconstituted using water. However, this clever bit of marketing in conjunction with the price difference are actually rather misleading. Tropicana’s pasteurized juice is not more expensive because it is closer to the fresh-squeezed stuff - it is sold at a higher price due to the fact that storing and preserving their juice costs THEM more money than the companies that produce the frozen varieties.

So, that explains the premium price of Tropicana’s product...but is it really 100% orange juice? Let’s find out. You know that storage method we referred to earlier? The way they are able to keep their juice fresh for over a year is by removing all the oxygen from it. Sadly, this comes at quite the price as far as authenticity is concerned - deaeration also takes away the orange’s natural flavor! Therefore, to make their product taste and smell orangey again, Tropicana hires fragrance companies that create ‘flavor packs’ to make the flavorless juice appetizing to consumers again. You won’t find these additives listed with the juice’s ingredients on the label though, because these flavor packs are technically derived from orange byproducts, though they have been significantly altered chemically. From Tropicana to Minute Maid to Simply Orange, the taste of the juice tends to vary by company, depending solely upon which flavor packs each company chooses. Many contain high amounts of ethyl butrate, a chemical that closely resembles the scent of a freshly squeezed orange, but all share the same goal - to breathe life back into their formerly fresh juices in much the same way that Dr. Frankenstein chose to reanimate his famous monster.
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