Tropicana fans are ditching the brand after a bottle redesign

OJ fans are frustrated about Tropicana's new smaller bottle, left, preferring its original design, right. (Tropicana Products, Inc.; Tiffany Hagler-Geard / Bloomberg / Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

Tropicana customers are in revolt over an orange juice bottle redesign. Again.

Tropicana recently ditched its distinct orange juice in clear, plastic circular-shaped bottles with a thinning neck and a crown-like bottle cap, known as a carafe. Over the summer, it rolled out a more traditional-looking plastic bottle and downsized the bottle from 52 ounces to 46 ounces. Tropicana also narrowed the label to fit the more compact bottle.

OJ fans are frustrated about the new look and protested that Tropicana is ripping them off by selling smaller bottles. Even though prices on the new bottle are supposed to be lower, not all stores are following Tropicana’s price recommendation. Customers are on high alert for any signs of “shrinkflation” — brands charging more for less.

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Tropicana’s sales have been steady for the year. But they plunged almost immediately after putting the new bottles on shelves.

In July, Tropicana’s sales dropped 8.3 per cent from the year prior, according to sales data by market research firm Circana shared with CNN. In August, sales dropped 10.9 per cent.

By October, Tropicana’s sales dropped 19 per cent. Tropicana has lost around four percentage points of market share to Simply Orange, owned by Coca-Cola, since the launch.

If this story rings a bell, you’ve got an excellent memory: In 2009, Tropicana replaced its familiar logo, an orange with a straw poking out, with a minimalist design featuring a glass of orange juice. The backlash was swift.

Customers wrote letters, sent emails and called Tropicana in droves to complain that the new symbol and carton design were generic and cheap-looking. Tropicana’s sales dropped 20 per cent following the redesign, sinking by US$30 million.

Tropicana abandoned the glass of orange juice just six weeks after rolling it out and brought back the old orange-with-a-straw.

It was a humiliating episode for Tropicana and became a case study on redesign blunders taught in business schools. Brand leaders still strategize on how to avoid becoming the “next Tropicana,” said Steve Lamoureux, the CEO of Designalytics, a consumer research company specializing in package design.

Design miss

Tropicana long had a winner on its hands with its clear carafe bottle, which it rolled out in 2011 to replace paper cartons.

The carafe was successful in part because customers liked how it looked sitting out at their breakfast tables. The packaging sent visual cues of breakfast and fresh orange juice, said Peter Clarke, the founder of Product Ventures, a packaging design firm.

The new one misses that.

“The problem with the new one is it doesn’t have any distinctive characters,” Clarke said. “It’s no longer meaningful. It’s ubiquitous. It’s more of a generic structure.”

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A spokesperson for Tropicana Brands Group, which owns the brand, told CNN that the company changed the bottle to address feedback from customers, including making it easier to pour and store while reducing plastic in the cap.

Since the new bottle is smaller, Tropicana may also be saving money on shipping costs, analysts say.

But some customers say that the old bottle with a longer neck is easier to grip and handle than the new one, according to Lamoureux, who has conducted surveys with hundreds of consumers about Tropicana’s change. They prefer the “ergonomic design” of the carafe bottle, he said.

The Tropicana Brands Group spokesperson said, “Changes can take time, and after just a few months, we’re continuing to do what we can to help shoppers get accustomed to our new look.” The company is investing in advertising and in-store elements to familiarize customers with the redesign. It also said it’s heard from customers who prefer the changes.

Cries of shrinkflation

Customers have griped online about the prices of the new bottles, although that’s not entirely Tropicana’s fault.

Tropicana suggests that retailers sell the new 46-ounce version for US$3.99, 70 cents less than the old one.

But some retailers have not adjusted their pricing on shelves to reflect the change, leading to complaints from customers online that Tropicana is the latest brand to participate in shrinkflation.

Consumers and lawmakers in recent years are eyeing any signs of shrinkflation like hawks and have protested companies downsizing products while simultaneously raising prices. Everyone from President Joe Biden to the Cookie Monster has complained about shrinkflation.

“Hey Tropicana OJ what the heck are you doing?” one person said on X. “I had been a loyal customer for decades but now you lost me.”

“I do not like the new bottle design,” another posted on Reddit. “I have purchased Tropicana for so many years, but this will make me change brands.”

No quick fix

Tropicana’s latest design blunder shows both the importance of package design in drawing and retaining customers sensitive to even the slightest tweaks. Tropicana may also have taken the wrong lesson from the 2009 mishap.

Companies now rigorously test design changes with consumers before they roll out across stores. But companies don’t have great metrics for predicting whether those changes will actually increase sales, Lamoureux said. The metrics brands test for are around whether products stand out on crowded shelves or contain any glaring issues.

“Everyone learned the wrong lesson from the last time,” he said.

There may be no quick solution to reverse Tropicana’s slide. In 2009, Tropicana was able to quickly stick the old graphics back on cartons. This time, however, the bottle has been completely restructured. It would take more time and investment to reverse structural changes.

“It’s not easy to turn it back,” Lamoureux said.