Tropicana Pure Premium Now the #4 Grocery Brand

BRADENTON, Fla., Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Tropicana Pure Premium has become the nation's fourth-largest grocery brand. According to the latest 52-week supermarket sales data from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), Tropicana Pure Premium juice passed Kraft cheese to assume the fourth position among the top brands as defined by IRI's InfoScan� Reviews.

IRI reported that the nation's top-selling orange juice had 52-week grocery sales through November 7 of $1.19 billion, up 19.5 percent over a year ago. The top five brands are Coca-Cola Classic, Pepsi-Cola, Campbell's Soup, Tropicana Pure Premium and Kraft Cheese.

``There are two factors that account for the tremendous growth of Pure Premium,'' said Terry Schulke, vice president of grocery sales for Tropicana. ``First, consumers continue to trade up to the superior quality and nutrition of our not-from-concentrate juices. And two, our retail customers have given Pure Premium outstanding support.''

Schulke notes that throughout the 90s, Pure Premium has been one of the fastest-growing food and beverage brands. For example, Pure Premium has gone from being the 16th largest brand in 1992 to number four today, and it's rapidly closing in on the number-three position.

Since 1993, the brand's sales have doubled. This has driven the chilled juices and drinks category sales, as not-from-concentrate orange juice surpassed frozen concentrate in 1993 and chilled from-concentrate last year. Today, not-from-concentrate products generate 45 percent of orange juice supermarket sales, up from 22 percent in 1990.

A major growth factor is the increasing popularity of nutritionally enhanced juices, particularly those with calcium. Schulke said that 1999 IRI sales of Pure Premium calcium-added orange and grapefruit juices have doubled versus a year ago.

Here are the top five grocery brands and their grocery sales for the 52 weeks ending November 7, 1999:
1.      Coca-Cola Classic, $1.991 billion
  2.      Pepsi-Cola, $1.756 billion
  3.      Campbell's Soup, $1.206 billion
  4.      Tropicana Pure Premium, $1.185 billion
  5.      Kraft Cheese, $1.174 billion

Tropicana Products, Inc., a division of PepsiCo, Inc., (NYSE: PEP - news) is the world's leading producer and marketer of branded fruit juices. Based in Bradenton, Florida, Tropicana markets its products in the U.S. under a number of brand names, including: Tropicana Pure Premium Original, Grovestand and HomeStyle juices; Tropicana Pure Premium Calcium & Extra Vitamin C, and Double Vitamin C with Vitamin E nutritionally enhanced juices; Dole juices and juice blends; Tropicana Season's Best and Pure Tropics juices; and Tropicana Twister juice beverages. The Dole brand name is licensed from Dole Food Company, Inc.

SOURCE: Tropicana Products, Inc.