Famous Fruits: Florida Oranges

Orange juice is America’s favorite breakfast beverage. More than five million gallons of it are consumed each year in the US. Most of this juice is processed in Florida, the nation’s top orange producer. In this article we will discuss the interesting history of Florida oranges and their juice.

The orange was brought to America in the early 1500s by Spanish explorers. Trees were planted on the outskirts of popular port cities like St. Augustine and Tampa Bay. In time, the local populations developed a taste for them.

Orange groves became a more common sight in Florida over the next three centuries. But because of transportation and storage costs, Florida oranges were only sold to the locals. Other citrus fruits like the lemon and the grapefruit were also cultivated, but in much smaller quantities.

At the time, Florida oranges were seldom squeezed. Even though orange lovers were aware they had delicious juice, fresh unpasteurized OJ will not keep when stored at room temperature. And home refrigerators were not offered to the public until 1911.

Meanwhile, the demand for citrus greatly increased when doctors began recommending it as a cure for scurvy. This was in the mid-19th century and transportation cost remained prohibitive. Florida oranges had to be transported on horse and carriage to barges and steamboats if they were being shipped out of state.

But all that changed when the first railroad tracks were laid in Florida in the 1880s. The railroad gave commercial farmers access to orange lovers up the east coast. By the turn of the century the citrus industry had grown from one to five million boxes in just over a decade.

The first orange processing facility opened in 1915, only a few years after the refrigerator had been introduced. Improved packaging and pasteurization techniques meant that orange juice could be safety shipped and stored in the home. Of course, only a small portion of Florida oranges were processed at the start.

The industry experienced an unprecedented increase in demand with the introduction of frozen concentrate near the end of World War II. As you might imagine, those were lean years in America and fresh orange juice was simply too expensive for most consumers. But frozen concentrate was much cheaper and could be stored indefinitely. Its popularity helped fuel the demand for Florida oranges.

By the end of the 1940s, orange juice was the second most popular breakfast beverage after coffee. Frozen concentrate dominated the market for four decades until ready to drink orange juice surpassed it. Today, about eighty percent of the orange juice that is processed in America comes from Florida.

Whether in ready to drink or frozen form, OJ has never surrendered its lead in the fruit juice market. It outsells its closest competitor, apple juice, by more than 2 1/2 times.

Taste the Sunshine with Hale Groves

At Hale Groves, we believe the best gifts come from the land, not a factory. For generations, our fruit has been grown slowly under the Florida sun, picked at its peak, and delivered fresh to your door. From sweet Navel Oranges to rare Honeybells, every gift shares the simple joy of real flavor—perfect for holidays, milestones, or everyday moments worth celebrating.

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