One Of The Biggest Juice Brands Could Go Bankrupt: What This Means For The Grocery Aisle

An icon of American orange juice is facing a money crisis. According to Debwire (via CNN), Tropicana Brands Group, whose eponymous orange juice brand is one of the best, has recently suffered a 10% loss in quarterly income and a 4% quarterly revenue loss. The consistently lagging economic performance is stirring whispers of bankruptcy, which could see Tropicana, Naked, and KeVita brands (all owned by Tropicana Brands Group) retreat from grocery stores nationwide.

While it's not uncommon for companies to secure loans during economic uncertainty, Tropicana Brands Group recently took on a $30 million loan from PAI Partners, a European private equity firm with a controlling share in the company since 2021. Experts suggest that a loan of that size coming from the company's effective owners, after years of low profits, means that Tropicana was likely unable to acquire a loan anywhere else. This is bad news for lovers of Tropicana orange juice, but it may also be a harbinger for things to come for other big names in the juice aisle.

Some of the significant problems facing Tropicana are also weighing down the orange industry at large. Last year, a devastating category 3 hurricane, Milton, tore through central Florida, affecting the majority of the state's commercial orange groves. Tropicana, like other major brands, blends juice from Florida oranges with imported oranges to make its juice.

The entire orange juice industry, not just Tropicana, is also under severe threat from citrus greening disease. The pervasive bacterial disease cuts fruits off from essential nutrients, causing them to turn green and die. Citrus greening has devastated Florida orange crops for decades and is a major contributor to the state's nearly 90% loss in citrus production since 1998. Unfortunately, citrus greening has spread to California and other orange-growing areas, limiting relief options.

With major stressors on orange production, Tropicana attempted to resist raising prices last year by redesigning, and shrinking, the bottle. Not only did the brand sacrifice its iconic, carafe-like design for something more plain, but customers were outraged at being charged the same price — or sometimes more — for less product. Whether it's shrinkflation or skimpflation, sales sunk by $30 million after the bottle redesign. With many of the same problems facing other major producers of orange juice, you can likely expect to see higher prices coming to your nearest juice aisle.