Frozen Drink Orange Plus Remembered

HOUSTON -A reader asked about a favorite missing old product. It was the orange drink Orange Plus, which was owned by Birdseye, and a non Birdseye ownership with the Treesweet Corp.

Orange Plus was a frozen orange drink that competed against Minute Maid. BrandlandUSA reader Nicholas Chicorikas says that it was around forever, and “tasted like nothing else. It was delicious. I can find no reference to it anywhere. “

The Birds Eye brand, the pioneer in frozen foods, does survive, but the pulpy orange drink does not. It was sold in the 1950s to 1980s or so. It was also sold by

Birdseye was originally founded by Clarence Birdseye, who popularized freezing foods. Later, Birds Eye was part of General Foods, and the Birds Eye brand was sold to Curtis Burns/Agrilink in 1998. It was purchased by Pinnacle Foods of New Jersey, which has steadily been acquiring many great cast offs from General Foods.

Birdseye Orange Plus

The $1.3 billion acquisition, which closed in December 2009, had Pinnacle Foods Group LLC, a private equity portfolio company of The Blackstone Group, purchase Birds Eye Foods, Inc. from a holding company controlled by Vestar Capital Partners, Pro-Fac Cooperative, and Birds Eye Foods management.

The transaction positions Pinnacle Foods as a leader in both the frozen and shelf-stable business segments. “Birds Eye Foods represents an ideal strategic fit,” said Bob Gamgort, CEO of Pinnacle Foods, in a press release last month.

Author

  • Garland Pollard

    J. Garland Pollard IV is editor/publisher of BrandlandUSA. Since 2006, the website BrandlandUSA.com has chronicled the history and business of America’s great brands.

7 Comments

  1. My whole family would love to see it return.


  2. I still have the glass container I used to make Orange Plus in, but nothing to put in it any more. I, too, have the occasional urge for Orange Plus and, although it has been probably 25 years, remember that nothing tasted quite like it. And half the fun was making it! I would love Orange Plus to be brought back – and will be it’s first customer if it is!!

  3. Please, please bring back Orange Plus – I have not enjoyed any orange juice since the 80’s. I am going through chemo therapy for breat cancer and would ove some Orange Plus. I will buy it online if it cannot be sold close to me

  4. Both Orange Plus and Bright & Early (an
    artifical orange frozen concentrate) were
    bought up by Coca Cola Foods sometime
    during the 1990’s. They may have been
    been sold again.

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