Tropicana Brands (pronounced as traa·puh·ka·nuh) is a former American fruit-based beverage company. It was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida. Between 1998 and 2021 it was a subsidiary of PepsiCo, but in August 2021, 61% of Tropicana was sold along with the rest of PepsiCo's juice brand portfolio for $3.3 billion to PAI Partners. PepsiCo retained the remaining 39% of ownership. History Anthony T. Rossi Anthony T. Rossi was born in Sicily and studied until high school. He immigrated to the United States in 1921 at the age of 21 years. He drove a taxi, was a grocer in New York, then worked as a farmer in Virginia, and then moved to Florida in 1940 where he farmed and was a restaurateur. His first involvement with the Florida citrus industry was fresh fruit gift boxes sold by Macy's and Gimbels department stores in New York City, New York. In 1947, Rossi settled in Palmetto, Florida and began packing fruit gift boxes and jars of sectioned fruit for salads under the name Manatee River Packing Company. As the fruit segment business grew, the company moved to a larger location in East Bradenton, Florida and changed its name to Fruit Industries. The ingredients for the fresh fruit salads on the menu of New York's famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel were supplied by Fruit Industries. At the East Bradenton location, Rossi began producing frozen, concentrated orange juice as a natural extension to the fruit section business. Evolution of Tropicana Pure Premium In 1952, Rossi purchased the Grapefruit Canning Company in Bradenton. The fresh fruit segments and orange juice business was profitable enough that he discontinued production of fruit boxes. He developed flash pasteurization in 1954, a process that raised the temperature of juice for a short time to preserve its taste. For the first time, consumers could have the fresh taste of pure not-from-concentrate juice in a chilled package. The juice, Tropicana Pure Premium, became the company's flagship product. The company developed a trademarked cartoon mascot for the brand called Tropic-Ana, a barefoot young girl carrying oranges on her head and wearing clothing that resembles a Hawaiian grass skirt and lei. She appeared prominently on the juice cartons and even the train cars used to transport the juice. Her image was phased out during the 1980s. Ed Price was hired as executive vice president and director in 1955 and represented the