Minute Maid discontinues frozen juice concentrate after 80 years
Social media is crying over a freezer aisle staple.
The Coca-Cola Company announced that it is discontinuing cans of Minute Maid frozen concentrated orange juice in the United States and Canada.
The iconic slush-filled tubes of orange juice concentrate, which have been around for 80 years, can be found in the freezer section of most supermarkets, where they have waited patiently to be used for party punches, smoothies and Orange Juliuses – but not for long.
“We are discontinuing our frozen products and retiring the frozen can category in response to changing consumer preferences,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said. “With the strong growth in the juice category, we are focusing on products that better match what our consumers want. Frozen products will be discontinued in the first quarter of 2026, with in-store inventory available while supplies last.”
So, if you’re feeling nostalgic, you have until April to pick up a few frozen cans to remember the good old days.
As expected, internet users are beside themselves as a staple of Americana travels the long, dusty path to obscurity.
“NOOOOOO! This is literally my childhood,” one Instagram user wrote on the Markie_devo account’s post about the news.
“How am I supposed to make margaritas?!” wrote another.
“Sad! I know concentrate isn’t ideal, but it was a cost-effective option and still higher in actual nutrition than the trendy drinks like kombucha that are now popular,” one X user wrote.
The process of making concentrated juice was invented by research team CD Atkins, Edwin Moore, and Louis MacDowell in the 1940s. They improved flavor over other preservation methods (which apparently were not tasty at all), reduced shipping costs, and increased shelf stability.
According to the Minute Maid website, in 1946 the company then called Vacuum Foods Corporation shipped the first frozen concentrated orange juice to the United States, which the company named Minute Maid. The product took off and the rest, as they say, is history.
And now cans of frozen Minute Maid concentrate are a thing of the past, too.
