The Globalization of Orange Juice
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Fact & Action Sheet The Globalization of Orange Juice Sociology 482/582: Sociology & the Politics of Food Fact Sheet on Globalization of Orange Juice Ten Things Every Consumer Should Know 1. Minute Maid and Tropicana are the two main companies in the United States. Minute Maid is owned by Coca-Cola and Tropicana owned by PepsiCo. 2. Both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are contracted with Brazilian corporations. 3. Brazilian corporations are able to sustain power by exploiting their own small farmers, paying cheap labor for high production. 4. The production cost in Brazil is about $0.42 per gallon while production costs in Florida are around $0.72 per gallon. 5. Due to demands brought on by Florida farmers, who accused Brazil of dumping into the market, a tax of about $ 0.30 is added to imports. 6. Nearly half of Florida’s orange juice processing plants are owned by Brazilian corporations. 7. The main times of harvest for oranges in Florida starts in November and goes until June. However, to meet consumer demands, Florida processing companies mix their orange juice with Brazilian imported orange juice, resulting in a lower-quality product of orange juice. 8. The process of heat packing was invented to help mass-produce concentrated orange juice. However, this process also strips orange juice of its taste and scent. A flavor pack, containing orange oils and perfumes, was used to solve this problem. 9. The United States, as a whole, consumes 11 lbs of fresh oranges per year, per person. 10. It takes 74.1 lbs of oranges to produce enough orange juice for one year of consumption per consumer. Background Information The main distributors of orange juice are based in four countries: Spain, Mexico, Brazil and the U.S. Before the 1980’s Florida was the main distributor of orange juice; California and Arizona also contributed, but only marginally in comparison. In the late 1980’s Florida experienced a freeze draught, and since, has taken a back seat to Brazil, now the main supplier to North America. During the mid 1970s there were 53 processing plants producing orange juice in Florida; currently there are only 18, 8 of which are owned by Brazilian corporations. Before the 1980s the Florida farmer had far more independence and reported having good relations with major companies such as Tropicana. Due to financial problems during the 1980s major companies began dealing with Brazilian corporations, like Cutrale, to save money. The merge with Brazilian corporations changed the way companies bought their oranges. Orange farmers were once paid based upon the extracted orange sugar solids. Now it is based on the number of gallons that can be squeezed out of the oranges. Farmers who grow high quality oranges will have a higher amount of sugar solids and will be paid less, yet company owned lands which mass produce oranges will be making the most money out of low quality but watery filled oranges. To ensure a paycheck, Florida farmers make contracts with companies like Tropicana and Minute Maid to prevent bankruptcy and loss of land which also means bending to the will of the company, such as using certain types of fertilizer and the specific oranges that those companies view as necessary for production. Five Things you can do: 1. Buy oranges from local farmers. 2. Become aware of when oranges are in season. 3. Talk to others about the problems with purchasing orange juice from different countries and its impact on U.S. farmers. 4. Make your own orange juice. 5. Request retailers to carry fair trade orange juice. How you can learn more: 1. Visit the USDA website :http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocNa me=STELDEV3011864 2. Fair Trade website: http://transfairusa.org/ 3. Florida Department of Citrus: http://www.floridajuice.com/fdoc.php 4. Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org 5. Sustainable communities network: http://www.sustainable.org Fact sheet created by: Amanda Ahles Date Created: 11/27/09 Information Sources: • Hamilton, Alissa. Squeezed: what you don’t know about orange juice. Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2009. • Donato, Roberta, M. Globalization and Trade Relations: US and Brazilian Orange Juice Dispute. Ohio University, International Studies - Latin America, 2006. • Hamilton, Shane. Cold Capitalism: The Political Ecology of Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice. Agricultural History, Vol. 77, No. 4 (Autumn, 2003), pp. 557-581 • Amestoy, Michelle & Crosbie, Melissa. Child Labor in the Orange Juice Industry in Brazil. Business students focus on ethics, Transaction Publishers, 2000, pp. 151-159
Transcript of The Globalization of Orange Juice
Fact & Action Sheet
The Globalization of Orange Juice
Sociology 482/582: Sociology & the Politics of Food Fact Sheet on Globalization of Orange Juice
Ten Things Every Consumer Should Know
1. Minute Maid and Tropicana are the two main companies in the United States. Minute Maid is owned by Coca-Cola and Tropicana owned by PepsiCo.
2. Both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are contracted with Brazilian corporations.
3. Brazilian corporations are able to sustain power by exploiting their own small farmers, paying cheap labor for high production.
4. The production cost in Brazil is about $0.42 per gallon while production costs in Florida are around $0.72 per gallon.
5. Due to demands brought on by Florida farmers, who accused Brazil of dumping into the market, a tax of about $ 0.30 is added to imports.
6. Nearly half of Florida’s orange juice processing plants are owned by Brazilian corporations.
7. The main times of harvest for oranges in Florida starts in November and goes until June. However, to meet consumer demands, Florida processing companies mix their orange juice with Brazilian imported orange juice, resulting in a lower-quality product of orange juice.
8. The process of heat packing was invented to help mass-produce concentrated orange juice. However, this process also strips orange juice of its taste and scent. A flavor pack, containing orange oils and perfumes, was used to solve this problem.
9. The United States, as a whole, consumes 11 lbs of fresh oranges per year, per person.
10. It takes 74.1 lbs of oranges to produce enough orange juice for one year of consumption per consumer.
Background Information
The main distributors of orange juice are based in four countries: Spain, Mexico, Brazil and the U.S. Before the 1980’s Florida was the main distributor of orange juice; California and Arizona also contributed, but only marginally in comparison. In the late 1980’s Florida experienced a freeze draught, and since, has taken a back seat to Brazil, now the main supplier to North America. During the mid 1970s there were 53 processing plants producing orange juice in Florida; currently there are only 18, 8 of which are owned by Brazilian corporations. Before the 1980s the Florida farmer had far more independence and reported having good relations with major companies such as Tropicana. Due to financial problems during the 1980s major companies began dealing with Brazilian corporations, like Cutrale, to save money.
The merge with Brazilian corporations changed the way companies bought their oranges. Orange farmers were once paid based upon the extracted orange sugar solids. Now it is based on the number of gallons that can be squeezed out of the oranges. Farmers who grow high quality oranges will have a higher amount of sugar solids and will be paid less, yet company owned lands which mass produce oranges will be making the most money out of low quality but watery filled oranges. To ensure a paycheck, Florida farmers make contracts with companies like Tropicana and Minute Maid to prevent bankruptcy and loss of land which also means bending to the will of the company, such as using certain types of fertilizer and the specific oranges that those companies view as necessary for production.
Five Things you can do: 1. Buy oranges from local farmers. 2. Become aware of when oranges are in season. 3. Talk to others about the problems with purchasing orange
juice from different countries and its impact on U.S. farmers. 4. Make your own orange juice. 5. Request retailers to carry fair trade orange juice.
How you can learn more: 1. Visit the USDA website
:http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3011864
2. Fair Trade website: http://transfairusa.org/ 3. Florida Department of Citrus:
http://www.floridajuice.com/fdoc.php 4. Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org 5. Sustainable communities network:
http://www.sustainable.org
Fact sheet created by: Amanda Ahles Date Created: 11/27/09
Information Sources: • Hamilton, Alissa. Squeezed: what you don’t know about orange juice. Yale
University Press, New Haven and London, 2009. • Donato, Roberta, M. Globalization and Trade Relations: US and Brazilian
Orange Juice Dispute. Ohio University, International Studies - Latin America, 2006.
• Hamilton, Shane. Cold Capitalism: The Political Ecology of Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice. Agricultural History, Vol. 77, No. 4 (Autumn, 2003), pp. 557-581
• Amestoy, Michelle & Crosbie, Melissa. Child Labor in the Orange Juice Industry in Brazil. Business students focus on ethics, Transaction Publishers, 2000, pp. 151-159
