Orangina

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Orangina bottles

Orangina is a carbonated citrus beverage made from orange, lemon and mandarin juice.

According to its Scottish^{[citation needed]} website, "The exact formula is a closely guarded secret, but Orangina is made up of a high content of orange juice and pulp: The bottle claims 12% juice, and 2% pulp and zest." [1]^{[dead link]}.

Orangina started life as Naranjina, presented at the 1936 Marseille Trade Fair by its Spanish inventor, chemist Dr. Trigo. [2] Léon Beton bought the concept and produced it in colonized Algeria, moving production to France in 1962 after Algeria won its independence.

The brand's popularity extends from its unique flavor to the iconic design of its 25 cl (8 oz) bottle made in the shape of a pear with a pebbly texture meant to recall the peel of an orange or other citrus fruit. Recently a larger 16 oz bottle was released in the US, maintaining the iconic pebbily texture but lacking the distinctive pear shape of the former bottle.

The company created by Beton joined the Pernod-Ricard group in 1984. In 2000 a share of the Orangina brand was acquired by a subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes. Since 2006 it is now owned by a consortium acting on behalf of funds managed by Blackstone Group and Lion Capital LLP. In Britain, it is manufactured under license by A.G. Barr plc of Glasgow, most famous for Irn-Bru [3]. In North America, its is still manufactured under license by Cadbury Schweppes. It is a very popular beverage in Europe and to a lesser extent in North America. It was originally produced for the North American market in Canada, but has since been moved to Hialeah, Florida, in the United States, and is produced under license of Mott's LLP of Rye Brook, New York. Orangina is also produced in Vietnam by Fosters Vietnam under licence and is sold in Carrefour branches in Taiwan. It is also produced in Iran by Shemshad Noosh co.

Recently, new flavours have emerged in Europe including Orangina Sanguine which is made from blood oranges (hence the name) and also contains caffeine and guarana. It is significantly more sour than regular Orangina. Other flavors such as the series called "les givrés" (which can be translated as both "frosted" and "crazy") are also available in Europe, but rarely seen in North America.

In France, Orangina is also famous for its advertisements: they almost always show people dressed in Orangina bottle costumes (or soft drink-related costumes). The most famous one was the Orangina Rouge costume person (played by Maurice Lamy), who was depicted as a mad chainsaw-wielding killer (since the drink was based on blood oranges, a horror movie context was created), attacking a family in a car who travelled through the forest. This was the origin of the popular French catchphrase: "Mais pourquoi est-il si méchant?" spoken by a child ("But why is he so evil?") to which the Orangina Rouge character replies with his equally famous catchphrase: "PARCE QUE!" ("BECAUSE!"). A new commercial depicted anthropomorphic animals (namely a deer, a bear, peacocks, chameleons, cougars, octopi, and even a topless panda girl, to name a few) in swimsuits, dancing while enjoying the juice.