Orange Julius
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryBeverages
Founded1926 (1926)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
FounderJulius Freed (1887–1952)
Headquarters
Edina, Minnesota
,
U.S.
Number of locations
962 (2023)
Area served
United States and Canada
ProductsBeverages
OwnerBerkshire Hathaway
Number of employees
2,362 (average of fewer than 1 employee per store) (2008)
ParentDairy Queen
Websitewww.orangejulius.com

Orange Julius is an American chain of beverage stores, known for a frothy fruit drink also called an Orange Julius. The chain has been in business since the late 1920s.[1] The signature beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites and vanilla flavoring. Most stores are located inside shopping malls.

History

The drink grew out of an orange juice stand opened in Los Angeles, California, in 1926 by Julius Freed. Sales were initially modest, about $20 a day (equivalent to approximately $330 in 2022 dollars).[2] In 1929, Bill Hamlin, Freed's real estate broker, developed a mixture that made the acidic orange juice less bothersome to his stomach. Freed's stand began serving the drink, which had a frothier, creamier texture. The sales at the stand increased substantially after the introduction of the new drink, going up to $100 ($1,650 in 2022 dollars).[2] a day.[3]

During the 1950s and 1960s, Orange Julius was sold at a variety of outlets, including state and county fairs and freestanding Orange Julius stands. The original stand also provided medicinal tonics and Bible tracts.[4] It was the Official Drink of the 1964 New York World's Fair Exposition.[5]

In 1967, Hamlin sold Orange Julius to Al Lapin Jr's International Industries corporation, who also owned International House of Pancakes; The Original House of Pies, and others. The Santa Monica, California headquartered company reached about 745 franchises, from California to Canada. It also changed its name to Orange Julius International. It was acquired, in 1985, by Custom Creamery Systems, a New York-based ice cream and vending machine operator. The only caveat in the deal was that the merged company retain the Orange Julius International name.[6][7] It was publicly traded, for a time, on the OTC.[8]

At its peak, as an independent company, it had hundreds of stores in malls across the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada. The first store opened in Asia in Hong Kong, in 1977, then spread to Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines and Japan.[9][10]

In 1987, the Orange Julius chain was bought by International Dairy Queen. IDQ was purchased by billionaire Warren Buffet in 1998. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.[11] All of the surviving independent Orange Julius stores were rebranded into Dairy Queens. Dairy Queen added Orange Julius to its product line at its stores. Today, Orange Julius is a menu item available at Dairy Queen stores, called Treat Centers.[1]

Naming and mascot

The Orange Julius was named the official drink of the 1964 New York World's Fair.[12]

Orange Julius first started using a devil mascot for their logo in 1926.[13] In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orange Julius beverage stands used an image of a devil with a pitchfork around an orange, with the slogan, "A Devilish Good Drink". The devil image resembled Sparky, the mascot of Arizona State University, and the company later dropped the logo and slogan after threats of a lawsuit from the ASU alumni association.[14][15]

For a short period in the early 1970s, Orange Julius expanded into the UK and Dutch markets, with a fairly large restaurant in Golders Green, selling Julius Burgers as well as the classic orange drink, and a small outlet in the city center of Amsterdam. There were plans to increase the number to 20–25 outlets in the Netherlands,[16] and at least one was realized, in the city of Utrecht. The brand was introduced and largely financed in the Netherlands by Eurobee NV, a subsidiary of Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer (KBB), one of the major retailers in The Netherlands at that time. Orange Julius left the Dutch market by the mid-1970s.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Reeves, Scott (June 19, 2009). "Mall Brands: Orange Julius". Miyanville. Archived from the original on June 23, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  2. 1 2 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  3. ↑ "About". Orange Julius. 2017. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  4. ↑ Myers, Dan (2015-06-17). "8 Things You Didn't Know About Orange Julius". The Daily Meal. Archived from the original on 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  5. ↑ "About Us". Dairy Queen. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  6. ↑ "More Than 700 Units Involved : N.Y. Firm Plans to Buy Orange Julius". Los Angeles Times. 1985-01-31. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  7. ↑ "Orange Julius International Shifts Identity, Management". Los Angeles Times. 1986-02-02. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  8. ↑ "ORANGE JULIUS INTERNATIONAL reports earnings for Qtr to March 31". The New York Times. 1986-06-03. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  9. ↑ Orange Julius Official Site - About Us https://orangejulius.com/en-us/about-us/
  10. ↑ "Celebrating 75 Years of Orange Julius". Fox News. 2015-03-25. Archived from the original on 2022-08-13. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  11. ↑ "What Bill Gates Learned By Serving Blizzards With Warren Buffett At Dairy Queen". Yahoo Finance. 2023-07-14. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  12. ↑ Brown, Ellen, "Supercharge your immune system : 100 ways to help your body fight illness, one glass at a time". Cf. p.35.
  13. ↑ "Trademark 1926-1992". Justia Trademarks. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  14. ↑ English, Jason (2007-04-10). "Three Things I Didn't Know About Orange Julius". mental_floss. Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-09. The former Orange Julius logo resembled Arizona State's Sparky, a Sun Devil with a pitchfork. The slogan: 'A Devilishly Good Drink.' After threats of a lawsuit from ASU's alumni association, Orange Julius retired its mascot.
  15. ↑ Self, Will. "Branding is more fundamental to the US psyche than the Bible". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-09. …what put paid to it (or him) was a suit by the alumni of Arizona State University, from whose own logo Orange Julius had been freely adapted…
  16. ↑ "Uitbreiding van Orange Julius zaken". Digibron.nl. Reformatorisch Dagblad. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

Sources

  • Mariani, John F. (1999). The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink. New York: Lebhar-Friedman. ISBN 0-86730-784-6. OCLC 968195941.
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