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American food product company

Odwalla Inc. (/oʊ/'/d//w//ɔː//l//ə/) is an American health food company based in Dinuba, California. Founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1980 and formerly headquartered in Half Moon Bay, California from 1995 to 2020, the company's product lines include fruit juices, smoothies, soy milk, bottled water, organic beverages, and several types of energy bars known as "food bars". The company experienced strong growth after its incorporation in 1985, expanding its distribution network from California to most of North America, and went public in 1993. A period of decline occurred as the result of a fatal outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in 1996 that was caused by using bruised fruit that had been contaminated. Odwalla originally sold unpasteurized juices, to avoid altering the flavor of its juices through pasteurization. Following the E. coli outbreak and the death of at least one child, Odwalla adopted flash pasteurization and other sanitization procedures. Odwalla recalled its juices and experienced a 90% reduction in sales following the event. The company gradually recovered and, the following year, became profitable again. In 2001, Odwalla was acquired by The Coca Cola Company for US$181 million and became a wholly owned subsidiary. In July 2020, Coca Cola announced it would discontinue the Odwalla brand by August 2020. The brand was sold to Full Sail IP Partners in 2021. Its headquarters was relocated to its production facility some time in the early 2020s.

Odwalla was founded in Santa Cruz, California, in 1980 by Greg Steltenpohl, Gerry Percy, and Bonnie Bassett. Odwalla's production facility is in Dinuba, California. The trio took the idea of selling fruit juices from a business guidebook, and they began by squeezing orange juice with a secondhand juicer in a shed in Steltenpohl's backyard. They sold their product from the back of a Volkswagen van to local restaurants, employing slogans such as "soil to soul, people to planet and nourishing the body whole". The name for their start up, "Odwalla", was taken from that of a character who guided "the people of the sun" out of the "gray haze" in the song poem "Illistrum", a favorite of the founders, which was composed by Roscoe Mitchell and performed by the Art Ensemble of Chicago jazz group, of which Mitchell was a member. Steltenpohl, Percy, and Bassett related this to their products, which they believe "help humans break free from the dull mass of over processed foods so prevalent today".

Odwalla was incorporated in September 1985 after five years of growth Odwalla went public in December 1993 (NASDAQ:ODWA); Soon afterwards, Odwalla expanded into new markets when it bought two companies in the Pacific Northwest and Colorado. The following year, the company moved its headquarters to Half Moon Bay, California. Continual growth and outside investments during these years allowed the company to expand and grow: Odwalla's revenue tripled from 1994 to 1995, This constant growth made Odwalla one of the largest fresh juice companies in America by 1996, when the company was selling its products to stores in seven states and parts of Canada. It was estimated that they would reach $100 million in sales by 1999. Much of this growth resulted from the perception that Odwalla's products were healthier than regular juice because they were not pasteurized. Another new product was the Future Shake, a "liquid lunch" aimed at younger consumers. Because of these efforts, Odwalla was again profitable by the end of 1997, reporting a profit of $140,000 for the third quarter. Having recovered, the company worked to expand geographically into markets like Philadelphia and Washington, D. C., and by the end of 1998 reported that revenue had surpassed pre crisis levels. in part through the $29 million acquisition of Fresh Samantha, a large juice company based in Saco, Maine, in 2000. This allowed Odwalla to expand into additional East Coast markets, but incurred high transportation costs as products had to be shipped across the United States from California. To address this problem the company announced plans to build a second production facility in Palm Beach County, Florida. However, facing difficulties in obtaining building permits and allocating sufficient funds, the project was first delayed and eventually cancelled. Odwalla produced and sold products under both its own and the Fresh Samantha brand names for a few years; however, in 2003, the company decided to stop selling juice under the Fresh Samantha name and to only sell Odwalla brand juice.

Odwalla was purchased by The Coca Cola Company in 2001 for $15.25 a share, a deal which totalled $181 million and was unanimously approved by the Odwalla board of directors. Under the terms of the merger, Odwalla's management stayed on as heads of the company, and it was "folded" into Coca Cola's Minute Maid department. The acquisition was one of several similar mergers which were aimed at expanding Coca Cola's product line to include non carbonated drinks. Odwalla benefited by obtaining up to a 124.3 percent premium on shares of the company, as well as from the stability and strength that ownership by The Coca Cola Company offered. Odwalla also was able to expand into new markets because of Coca Cola's well established distribution network. and three flavors of "Soy Smart" drinks, which contain soy protein, omega 3 fatty acids, and calcium. Coca Cola promoted Odwalla products in 2006 when the company aimed at removing carbonated soda products in schools. Odwalla continued to have good growth in 2007, when Coca Cola, squeezed by poor growth in its North American markets, issued a company wide hiring freeze; Odwalla, because of its good performance, was one of the few exceptions to the rule.

In July 2020, Coca Cola announced the permanent discontinuation of all Odwalla products, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, the brand not having shown growth in three consecutive years (a subset of the corporation's which comprise less than 2% of its total revenue). Coca Cola sold the brand to Full Sail IP Partners in 2021.

Odwalla used what it characterized as "fresh sourced" produce (fruits and vegetables that had recently been harvested) to make many of its products, as well as organic oats for food bars and certain tropical fruits in a frozen purée form, purchased from an outside source and blended with fruit juice. Fruit availability and price were also affected by adverse weather, disease, and natural disasters. A sample underwent quality testing, and, if it passed, the batch was shipped in refrigerated trucks to various distribution centers in the United States. bottled spring water, as well as larger 64 US fluid ounce (1.9 litre) containers. Odwalla's juice, because of production costs, was "typically sold at prices higher than most other juice products", and the price of the juice could vary over time because of weather or disease affecting the supply of fruit and vegetables. Coca Cola contains 3.25 grams of sugar per ounce. This translates to 44 grams of sugar (nearly four tablespoons) in a 12 ounce "Mango Tango" versus 39 grams of sugar in a 12 ounce Coke. Throughout its history, Odwalla produced and subsequently withdrew various juice flavors due to their lower popularity, including the Odwalla Superfood Amazing Purple, Soy Vanilla, and Pomegranate Mango drinks. as an alternative to its drinks in an attempt to raise revenue following the 1996 E. coli outbreak. The bars came in a variety of flavors, and weighed per bar. As of 2001, before Odwalla was acquired by Coca Cola, food bars accounted for less than five percent of Odwalla's revenue.