This time around, orange juice drinkers are increasingly wary of shrinkflation, a trend where product sizes are reduced while prices remain unchanged. For instance, Tropicana has launched its new bottles at a price of $3.99, approximately 70 cents less than its former design. However, these slim bottles are still more expensive per ounce at certain retailers. At Walmart, the new 46-ounce bottles cost 7.7 cents per ounce, while the older 52-ounce bottles are priced at 7.6 cents per ounce. Consumers have certainly taken notice of the perceived shrinkflation.
“Done with Tropicana. Classic Shrinkflation,” one BlueSky user noted. “Last time it comes into this house. Time to stand up and let these big corporations know that we actually DO count. Sickens me.”
Tropicana Responds to Shrinkflation Allegations
Shrinkflation has escalated into a significant concern for consumers since 2022, as brands attempted to mask the effects of inflation by strategically downsizing packaging instead of raising prices. Snack brands, including beloved cereals, have been some of the worst alleged offenders of shrinkflation. For example, Doritos bags shrank from 9.75 ounces to 9.25 ounces, while “family-size” boxes of General Mills’ Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrunk from 19.3 ounces to 18.1 ounces within just a few months in 2022.
However, it is not just social media discontent that should concern Tropicana; the potential impact on sales poses a significant threat. After all, the previous redesign that displeased customers led to nearly a 20% sales decline in just a few months.
Tropicana, which PepsiCo sold in 2021 to private equity firm PAI Partners, is now managed by the joint venture Tropicana Brands Group. As a result, its sales data are no longer publicly available. However, consumer research firm Circana reported that Tropicana’s sales fell sharply following the transition, plummeting 10.9% in August and 19% by October, according to CNN.
“Consumers voting with their wallets is the most powerful and underrated form of protesting. Incredible,” one user commented on Reddit.
Tropicana Brands Group informed Fortune that, based on third-party data, sales are gradually returning to their normal levels. The company acknowledged that adapting to packaging changes takes time. The decision to redesign the bottle was informed by customer feedback aimed at enhancing pour and storage convenience while producing a more sustainable cap that uses less plastic.
“Anecdotally, we are hearing from many that the changes better suit them and optimize their experience with our product,” a spokesperson from Tropicana Brands Group stated.
Tropicana’s Sour Customers
Tropicana hopes that customers’ bitterness regarding these changes will sweeten, to avoid a repeat of the fallout from its packaging redesign efforts 15 years ago. In early 2009, the juice brand shifted its packaging from showcasing an orange with a straw to an image featuring a tall glass of juice. This change was met with considerable backlash, as customers criticized the bottles for appearing generic.
“Do any of these package-design people actually shop for orange juice?” one frustrated consumer remarked in an email to the company at the time. “Because I do, and the new cartons stink.”
The redesign, which cost Tropicana an estimated $35 million, significantly affected the juice industry. Not only did Tropicana’s unit sales plunge by 20% from January 1 to February 22 following the rebrand, but dollar sales also fell by 19%. Meanwhile, competitors Florida’s Natural and Minute Maid enjoyed double-digit unit sales growth during this same two-month timeframe. Tropicana quickly reverted to its original packaging shortly thereafter.
Peter Arnell, the designer behind Tropicana’s rebrand and also involved in Pepsi’s complex redesign initiative in 2008, defended the 2009 packaging shift. He questioned the rationale behind featuring the orange, yet not the juice itself, on Tropicana’s packaging. Arnell argued that the new design’s orange twist cap “implied ergonomically” the squeezing motion essential for juice production—and, in his view, so much more.
“‘Squeeze’ maintains a certain level of, I guess, power when it comes to this notion emotionally about what squeeze means,” he explained to AdAge in 2009. “Like, ‘my squeeze’ or ‘give me a squeeze,’ or the notion of a hug, or the ideas behind the power of love and the idea of transferring that love or converting that attitude between mom and the kids, right?”
