“Florida Foods, Inc. developed frozen concentrated orange juice after its military contract to produce powdered orange juice was canceled following World War II.”

The Florida Department of Citrus invented frozen concentrated orange juice in 1945, and gave the patent to the United States Government in 1948, which helped make the frozen food industry commercially viable.

In 1945, still set on getting that Vitamin C to the troops, the army asked Morse to produce 500,000 of palatable orange juice concentrate, using both his business know-how and the new techniques developed by the USDA. Morse readily set up the Florida Foods Corporation to fulfill this massive order. Ironically, the war ended before the orange juice could ship out. … In 1946, Florida Foods became the Vacuum Foods Corporation and began to sell the nation’s first concentrated frozen orange juice.

At the end of World War II, Mr. Fox and four other businessmen set up a small company called Florida Foods Inc., which made the first commercial batch of frozen orange concentrate using a vacuum technique he had seen employed in Boston during the war to dehydrate penicillin and food for the military. … The original plan was to turn orange juice into a soluble powder, but this turned out to have an unpleasant taste. So instead, they reduced fresh juice to

Fox moved to Florida and in 1945, he and four other businessmen (I’m still looking for them…) started a small company called Florida Foods Corporation, which produced orange juice powder using the vacuum technique to sell to the U.S. Army. … Although the Army ordered 500,000 pounds of the powdered orange juice, the war ended before the product shipped, so the company turned its efforts to reducing fresh juice into concentrate, which was more palatable than the powder when mixed with water.

At the end of World War II, Mr. Fox and four other businessmen set up a small company called Florida Foods Inc., which made the first commercial batch of frozen orange concentrate using a vacuum technique he had seen employed in Boston during the war to dehydrate penicillin and food for the military. … The original plan was to turn orange juice into a soluble powder, but this turned out to have an unpleasant taste. So instead, they reduced fresh juice to a thick concentrate, which proved much more drinkable when water was added.

At the end of World War II, Mr. Fox and four other businessmen set up a small company called Florida Foods Inc., which made the first commercial batch of frozen orange concentrate using a vacuum technique he had seen employed in Boston during the war to dehydrate penicillin and food for the military. … The original plan was to turn orange juice into a soluble powder, but this turned out to have an unpleasant taste. So instead, they reduced fresh juice to a thick concentrate, which proved much more drinkable when water was added.

In 1942, to prevent soldiers from suffering a lack of vitamin C, the U.S. Army sought a contractor to create and package frozen orange juice concentrate. Many tried, but it wasn’t until 1945 that a team of USDA scientists developed the right process and Florida Foods Corp. secured the manufacturing contract. The Army ordered half a million pounds of frozen orange juice concentrate, but the end of World War II that same year meant soldiers wouldn’t be the first to enjoy the invention. … Florida Foods, which remained intent on being in the frozen orange juice business, changed its name to Vacuum Foods Corp. and pushed its new product as Minute Maid.

The company was originally incorporated around 1944 as Vacuum Foods Corporation. … Led by John M. Fox, [3] the firm won a government contract worth $750,000 for 500,000 lb (227,000 kg) of powdered orange juice for the war. [1] The war ended and the contract was canceled before the factory could be built, but with investment, the company moved forward with a product. [1] … Rather than selling powder to the public market, the company decided to create frozen orange juice concentrate, using a process that eliminated 80 percent of the water in orange juice.

In response to the U.S. Army issuing an open order for 500,000 pounds of powdered orange juice the NRC organized the Florida Foods Corporation headed by John M. (Jack) Fox. … With the end of the war in sight, the U.S. Army contract was cancelled but the company moved ahead, beginning construction on a full-scale processing plant. … Converting the powdered orange juice into a commercial product proved to be trickier than planned. The solution was an intermediate step - frozen orange juice concentrate which had a rich, fresh-squeezed taste.

The U.S. Army orders 500,000 pounds of powdered orange juice. Florida Foods Corporation wins the contract, but the war ends before the product ships. … Florida Foods, renamed Vacuum Foods Corporation, ships the first frozen concentrated orange juice product in the U.S., which is named Minute Maid®.

In early 1945 NRC organized Florida Foods Corporation, with John M. Fox as its head, and built a plant in Plymouth, Florida. The company aimed to win a contract for 500,000 pounds of powdered orange juice, which the Army had offered. Through Fox's persistence, Florida Foods was awarded the contract in the spring of 1945 for $750,000 worth of orange powder. Fox next secured $2.7 million in capital from investors, but the end of the war led the Army to cancel the order. … Concluding that the orange powder would not constitute a viable consumer product, Fox also led his company to market an "intermediate step" in the vacuum process--that of frozen orange juice concentrate.

In early 1945 NRC organized Florida Foods Corporation, with John M. Fox as its head, and built a plant in Plymouth, Florida. … Through Fox's persistence, Florida Foods was awarded the contract in the spring of 1945 for $750,000 worth of orange powder. Fox next secured $2.7 million in capital from investors, but the end of the war led the Army to cancel the order. … Concluding that the orange powder would not constitute a viable consumer product, Fox also led his company to market an "intermediate step" in the vacuum process--that of frozen orange juice concentrate.

The temperatures employed were often greatly in excess of, and the times of treatment as much as several hundred percent higher than, the current technique used in the pilot plant and the procedure used in the newly constructed production unit, Vacuum Foods Inc., formerly Florida Foods, Inc.

The impetus for Minute Maid was World War II, when the troops needed Vitamin C, and the sugar and morning energy of a glass of orange juice. The government requisitioned 500,000 pounds of orange juice mix, but the war ended before it was delivered. … Out of that invention, Florida Foods, renamed Vacuum Foods Corporation, shipped the first frozen concentrated orange juice product in the U.S.

Although the powdered orange juice was deemed to be bitter, and the need for powdered juice concentrates ended after Japan’s formal surrender, a concentrated frozen product with improved flavor was developed by Dr. L.S. McDowell in the mid-1940s. … John Fox guided his company’s transformation from powered juice production to the production of frozen orange juice concentrate.

In early 1945 NRC organized Florida Foods Corporation, with John M. Fox as its head, and built a plant in Plymouth, Florida. The company aimed to win a contract for 500,000 pounds of powdered orange juice, which the Army had offered. Through Fox’ persistence, Florida Foods was awarded the contract in the spring of 1945 for $750,000 worth of orange powder. Fox next secured $2.7 million in capital from investors, but the end of the war led the Army to cancel the order. … Concluding that the orange powder would not constitute a viable consumer product, Fox also led his company to market an “intermediate step” in the vacuum process—that of frozen orange juice concentrate.

In early 1945 NRC organized Florida Foods Corporation, with John M. Fox as its head, and built a plant in Plymouth, Florida. The company aimed to win a contract for 500,000 pounds of powdered orange juice, which the Army had offered. Through Fox's persistence, Florida Foods was awarded the contract in the spring of 1945 for $750,000 worth of orange powder. Fox next secured $2.7 million in capital from investors, but the end of the war led the Army to cancel the order. … Undeterred, Fox shifted the company's focus to the consumer market. … Concluding that the orange powder would not constitute a viable consumer product, Fox also led his company to market an "intermediate step" in the vacuum process--that of frozen orange juice concentrate.

60 years ago, Louis G. MacDowell, director of research for the Florida Citrus Commission, had an idea. He suggested that adding a little single-strength fresh juice, or "cut-back," to slightly overconcentrated orange juice might restore the flavor and aroma lost during vacuum evaporation. … He took the idea to USDA researchers, the folks with the equipment and expertise to help develop the idea. Not only did it work but the vastly improved concentrate could be easily frozen. And so began the success story that's now such a familiar sight on the breakfast table-frozen concentrated orange juice.

The Florida Citrus Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly worked together during the war to develop a better way to preserve orange juice. Their discovery was frozen concentrate orange juice.

In early 1945 NRC organized Florida Foods Corporation, with John M. Fox as its head, and built a plant in Plymouth, Florida. … Through Fox's persistence, Florida Foods was awarded the contract in the spring of 1945 for $750,000 worth of orange powder. Fox next secured $2.7 million in capital from investors, but the end of the war led the Army to cancel the order. … Concluding that the orange powder would not constitute a viable consumer product, Fox also led his company to market an "intermediate step" in the vacuum process--that of frozen orange juice concentrate.

With Louis G. MacDowell and C. D. Atkins in the 1940s, he helped develop a new process for making frozen concentrated orange juice. … After graduating from college, Moore joined the Florida Citrus Commission where he joined the research team of Dr. Louis G. MacDowell and Cedric "C.D." Atkins. They were assigned to find a viable form of an orange juice concentrate that could deliver Vitamin C to soldiers in Europe to help fight scurvy.

Mr. Atkins, Edwin L. Moore and L. G. MacDowell, who died in July 1986, were the research team that the Florida Citrus Commission asked in the 1940's to improve the quality of processed orange products. The purpose was to provide better juice for the armed forces and make more efficient use of Florida's orange crop.

The Florida Foods Corporation won the contract to make the powdered juice, but the war ended first. By 1946, the company had turned the idea of powdered juice into a frozen concentrate; the company was renamed as Vacuum Foods Corporation that sold a frozen concentrated orange juice product by the name of Minute Maid.

This product, which was developed in 1945-46, requires 80% of the annual Florida orange crop to meet the consumer demand.

Three years later, the young men – scientific Research Director Louis G. MacDowell and chemists Dr. Edwin L. Moore and Cedric D. Atkins – had perfected the method of producing the present form of frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ).