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Odwalla Juice Co history
Odwalla Juice Co company history timeline
1980:Odwalla begins juicing in Santa Cruz.
Odwalla was founded in Santa Cruz, California, in 1980 by Greg Steltenpohl, Gerry Percy, and Bonnie Bassett.
The company was incorporated in California in September 1985.
The company was incorporated in California in September 1985. It expanded into San Francisco in 1988.
By 1992, the company employed 80 people at its company headquarters in Davenport, California, and sold around 20 different flavors of juice for between $1.50 and $2.00 a pint.
Odwalla went public in December 1993 (NASDAQ:ODWA); the company had 35 delivery trucks, almost 200 employees, and made about $13 million a year.
In 1993, Hambrecht & Quist helped take Odwalla public, which allowed it to expand nationally and into Canada.
1994:First shipments delivered outside of California.
Odwalla built a new production facility located in Dinuba, California, in 1994 in order to better meet production demands.
He and co-CEO Stephen Williamson told shareholders: 'Our objective, our passion, is to lead the fresh beverage revolution.' It spent heavily to get on Texas shelves in October 1996.
1996:E. coli outbreak traced to company's apple juice.
By 1996, it had roughly $60 million in sales, a new plant and refrigerated delivery trucks to replace the VW vans.
In 1997 Odwalla converted most of its delivery trucks to run on compressed natural gas, for which it won a Clean Air Award from the American Lung Association.
Because of these efforts, Odwalla was again profitable by the end of 1997, reporting a profit of $140,000 for the third quarter.
Odwalla introduced an energy bar, its first solid product, in September 1998.
1998:Odwalla returns to profitability.
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.
Redesigned packaging appeared in September 1999.
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.
Growth continued over subsequent years, in part through the $29 million acquisition of Fresh Samantha, a large juice company based in Saco, Maine, in 2000.
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.
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.
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.
Only a few years after its founding, in 2012, Califia is on track to ring up $100 million in sales and is adding products at a fast clip.
The first batch of almond milk rolled off the production line in 2012 and quickly took off.
Marc Arseneault of Half Moon Bay checks out the selection of Odwalla juices in New Leaf Market in Half Moon Bay Friday, May 31, 2013.
In July 2020, Coca-Cola announced the permanent discontinuation of all Odwalla products, having declared Odwalla one of its "zombie brands" (brands which comprise less than 2% of total revenue).
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Odwalla Juice Co competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean Spray Cranberries | 1930 | $2.0B | 2,000 | 95 |
| Stone Brewing | 1996 | $630.0M | 1,100 | 5 |
| Jones Soda Co. | 1996 | $19.2M | 20 | - |
| Dave's Killer Bread | 2005 | $29.6M | 350 | - |
| Big Heart Pet Brands | 1916 | $2.2B | 7,500 | - |
| Constellation Brands | 1945 | $10.0B | 9,300 | 64 |
| Peet's Coffee | 1966 | $983.0M | 5,000 | 153 |
| Fla-Vor-Ice | 1926 | $120.0M | 277 | 10 |
| Ghirardelli Chocolate | 1852 | $175.4M | 500 | 48 |
| Diedrich Coffee | - | $46.0M | 815 | - |
Odwalla Juice Co history FAQs
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Odwalla Juice Co may also be known as or be related to Odwalla, Odwalla Inc, Odwalla Juice Co and Odwalla, Inc.