Tropicana is finally addressing the backlash over its controversial juice bottle redesign. Back in July, the fruit-based beverage company debuted a narrower bottle, ditching its signature carafe design and crown cap. This drastic change in packaging left netizens upset, leading to a decline in sales.
Tropicana breaks silence after orange juice bottle redesign leaves customers upset
Tropicana rolled out its newer, more generic-looking orange juice bottles over the summer, downsizing from its previous 52 ounces to 46 ounces. Customers called out the company for ripping them off as not all stores are following Tropicana’s recommendation to lower the prices.
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Almost immediately after unveiling their new bottles, Tropicana sales dropped 8.3% from the year prior in July and 10.9% in August, per sales data by market research firm Circana shared with CNN. The company sales dropped 19% by October.
The report added that Tropicana had lost around 4 percentage points of market share to Simply Orange, owned by Coca-Cola, since the rebrand. However, a spokesperson for the juice brand denied the data, saying, “These types of changes can take time, and recent third-party data shows that unit sales are returning to normal levels.”
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“We are continuing to do what we can to further help shoppers get accustomed to our new look, including investing in advertising and in-store elements,” the spokesperson went on. “In the meantime, anecdotally we are hearing from many that the changes better suit them and optimize their experience with our product.”
Addressing the new juice bottle designs, the spokesperson said that the change was introduced “so it’s easier to pour and store as well as upgrading to a more streamlined and sustainable cap made with less plastic that’s easier to open.”
