Hi-C
Fruit juice-flavored soft drink
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hi-C is an American fruit juice–flavored drink made by the Minute Maid division of The Coca-Cola Company. It was created by Niles Foster in 1946 and released in 1947. The sole original flavor was orange, with additional flavors introduced in subsequent years.
 | |
| Type | Fruit drink |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Minute Maid |
| Origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1947 |
| Color | Colorless (juice boxes) Colored (fountain) |
| Variants | See variations below |
| Website | www |
History
Niles Foster, a former bakery and bottling plant owner, created Hi-C in 1946. It took Foster over a year to develop the ideal formula for Hi-C orange drink; the formula contains orange juice concentrate, peel oil and orange essences, sugar, water, citric acid and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). The name "Hi-C" referred to its high vitamin content. Hot-packed in enamel-lined 56-ounce (1.66 L) cans, the product needed no refrigeration before opening. After test marketing in 1947, Hi-C orange drink was introduced in 1948 with a massive promotional effort, spending thousands of dollars weekly per market on promotions. Foster entered into an agreement with Clinton Foods, Inc., to produce and market Hi-C, with Foster managing the Hi-C business.
Originally marketed in the Southern United States, Hi-C was introduced into the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets in 1949. As markets for Hi-C were expanded nationwide, so were the contract operations, strategically located near major market areas. The multi-plant system facilitated quick product shipping, minimizing out-of-date merchandise problems. New flavors of Hi-C fruit drinks were developed as an outgrowth of the contract packer system. Grape, the second flavor introduced, evolved naturally from the fact that the Geneva, Ohio, co-packer was also processing fresh grapes. Apple and cherry drinks were introduced as a result of the fresh fruit processing operations at the Paw Paw, Michigan, co-packer plant.
As the Hi-C business continued to grow, it attracted the attention of the Minute Maid Corporation. In 1954, Clinton Foods, Inc. sold its Florida holdings—including Hi-C fruit drinks—to Minute Maid. Niles Foster left the Minute Maid Corporation shortly after the Hi-C brand was purchased. George Roberts, assistant sales manager for Niles Foster when Hi-C was introduced, remained with the company, initially as National Sales Manager for Hi-C, then later as Director of Contract Packer Operations for the Houston, Texas, based Coca-Cola Foods Division, ensuring the successful marketing, promotion, and distribution of Hi-C. The Hi-C business continued to expand with new flavors (orange-pineapple, pineapple-grapefruit, Florida Punch, peach) and innovative marketing techniques. By 1958, Hi-C fruit drinks had become an American supermarket staple, available in every grocery store nationwide.[1]
Product lines
Drink boxes
- Flashin' Fruit Punch (Blend of orange and pineapple juices)
- Orange Lavaburst (Blend of orange and pear juices)
- Torrential Tropical Punch (Blend of orange and pineapple juices)
- Boppin' Strawberry (Blend of pear and strawberry juices)
- Grabbin' Grape (Blend of pear and grape juices)
- Strawberry Kiwi Kraze (Blend of pear, apple, strawberry and kiwi juices)
- Poppin' Lemonade (discontinued)
- Blazin' Blueberry (Blend of apple, grape and blueberry juices) (discontinued)
- Wild Cherry (Blend of pear and cherry juices) (discontinued)
- Smashin' Wild Berry (Blend of apple, pear, blackberry, blueberry and raspberry juices) (discontinued)
- Ecto Cooler (discontinued)
- Candy Apple Cooler (discontinued)
- Double Fruit Cooler (discontinued)
- Hula Punch (discontinued)
Drink mixes
- Flashin' Fruit Punch
- Grabbin' Grape
- Mashin' Mango Melon
- Blazin' Blueberry (discontinued)
Coca-Cola Freestyle
- Cherry
- Fruit Punch
- Grape
- Lemon
- Orange
- Orange Vanilla
- Raspberry (discontinued)
- Raspberry Lime (discontinued)
- Strawberry
- Blueberry
Fountain
- Flashin' Fruit Punch
- Orange Lavaburst
- Poppin' Pink Lemonade
Hi-C Blast (discontinued)
- Berry Blue
- Blue Watermelon
- Fruit Pow
- Fruit Punch
- Orange Supernova
- Raspberry Kiwi
- Strawberry
- Strawberry Kiwi
- Wild Berry
- Wild Cherry
Ecto Cooler
Ecto Cooler was a product tie-in with the cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters, based on the 1984 live-action film, Ghostbusters. Slimer left the box sometime around 1997. In 2001, Minute Maid discontinued the product, renaming it Shoutin' Orange Tangergreen.[2] Slimer was replaced on the packaging by a similar-looking blob of lips.[3] The product was still noted as ecto cooler on many store receipts.[3] In 2006, Shoutin' Orange Tangergreen was renamed Crazy Citrus Cooler.[2] In 2007, Crazy Citrus Cooler was discontinued.[2]
In April 2016, Coca-Cola announced that Ecto Cooler will return for a limited time, starting May 30, as part of a promotion with the rebooted Ghostbusters.[4] A company spokeswoman said the new drink will have its original sweeteners simplified to just high fructose corn syrup, and other ingredients reduced so it "maintains the correct amount of tartness."[5]
In October 2016, the Ecto Cooler Facebook page announced that the drink would be again discontinued at the end of the year with a post saying "My eyes are welling up with green tears as I write this: #EctoCooler will be laid to rest at the end of this year #RIPEcto." Fans were urged to stockpile the drink while it was still available; however, response to this news from fans was overwhelmingly negative considering the drink was never mass-produced or easy to find in stores during its May to December run.[6]
With the November 2021 release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a direct sequel to the original franchise, Ecto Cooler received an even more limited reissue. The 2021 reissue was not available for retail purchase at all; the only way to acquire the beverage was to win it by responding to official Hi-C and Ghostbusters-related social media posts.[7][8][9][10]
McDonald's
In April 2017, McDonald's restaurants announced they were discontinuing Hi-C Orange Lavaburst from their beverage menu and replacing it with Fanta and Sprite TropicBerry sodas as part of a new promotional deal with Coca-Cola. In February 2021, McDonald's announced that Hi-C Orange Lavaburst would return to their menu by summer 2021.[11][12][13]
In popular culture
The Hi-C Ecto Cooler drink appears in the 2019 Rick and Morty episode Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty, and the 2021 Loki episode Journey into Mystery.[14]