to reflect the growing appeal of the Tropicana brand. In 1957, the company's name was changed to Tropicana Products, Inc. Įd Price was hired as executive vice president and director in 1955 and represented the company as chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission. Her image was diminished and finally phased out during the 1980s. She appeared prominently on the juice cartons and even the train cars used to transport the juice. ![]() 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. The juice, Tropicana Pure Premium, became the company's flagship product. For the first time, consumers could have the fresh taste of pure not-from-concentrate juice in a ready to serve chilled package. He developed flash pasteurization in 1954, a process that rapidly raised the temperature of juice for a short time to preserve its fresh taste. The fresh fruit segments and orange juice business were so successful that he discontinued production of fruit boxes. In 1952, with the growth of the orange juice business in mind, Rossi purchased the Grapefruit Canning Company in Bradenton. At the East Bradenton location, Rossi began producing frozen, concentrated orange juice as a natural extension to the fruit section business. The ingredients for the fresh fruit salads on the menu of New York's famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel were supplied by Fruit Industries. As the fruit segment business grew, the company moved to a larger location in East Bradenton, Florida and changed its name to Fruit Industries. 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. ![]() 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. He drove a taxi, was a grocer in New York, farmer in Virginia, and then moved to Florida in 1940 where he farmed and was a restaurateur. He emigrated to the United States when he was 21 years old. Rossi was born in Sicily and studied til high school.
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