Orange Julius facts for kids
 |
|
Orange Julius with Dairy Queen, Liat Towers, 2006
|
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Beverages |
| Founded | 1926 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Founder | Julius Freed (1887–1952) |
| Headquarters |
,
U.S.
|
|
Number of locations
|
962 (2023) |
|
Area served
|
United States of America and Canada |
| Products | Beverages |
| Parent | Dairy Queen (1987-present) |
Orange Julius is a famous American company that sells drinks. It's best known for its special frothy fruit drink, also called an Orange Julius. This company has been around since the late 1920s! The secret recipe for their famous drink includes ice, orange juice, a sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites, and vanilla flavor. You'll often find Orange Julius stores inside shopping malls.
Contents
The Story of Orange Julius
How the Drink Started
The Orange Julius story began in Los Angeles, California, in 1926. A man named Julius Freed opened a small stand that sold orange juice. At first, he didn't sell many drinks, only about $20 worth each day.
Then, in 1929, Bill Hamlin, who was Julius Freed's real estate agent, came up with an idea. He found that the regular orange juice upset his stomach because it was too acidic. So, he created a new mix that made the orange juice less acidic and easier to drink. This new mix also made the drink frothy and creamy.
When Julius Freed started selling this new, improved drink, sales went way up! He began selling about $100 worth of drinks every day. People loved the frothy, creamy texture of the new Orange Julius drink.
Growing Popularity
During the 1950s and 1960s, Orange Julius became very popular. You could find it at many different places, like state and county fairs. There were also special Orange Julius stands that only sold the drink. The very first stand even offered health tonics and religious pamphlets! The drink was so famous that it was chosen as the official drink of the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Changes in Ownership
In 1967, Bill Hamlin sold Orange Julius to a company called International Industries. This company also owned other well-known restaurants like IHOP. Orange Julius International, as it was then called, grew to have about 745 locations, from California all the way to Canada.
Later, in 1985, another company bought Orange Julius. Then, in 1987, a big change happened: International Dairy Queen bought the Orange Julius chain. Dairy Queen itself was later bought by the famous investor Warren Buffett in 1998. This made Orange Julius a part of Berkshire Hathaway, a very large company.
After Dairy Queen bought Orange Julius, many of the independent Orange Julius stores became Dairy Queen stores. Today, you can still enjoy an Orange Julius drink, but you'll usually find it on the menu at Dairy Queen locations, often called Treat Centers.
Orange Julius Around the World
At its busiest time as an independent company, Orange Julius had hundreds of stores. These stores were in shopping malls all across the United States, including Puerto Rico, and in Canada. The first store in Asia opened in Hong Kong in 1977. After that, Orange Julius expanded to other countries like Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan.
For a short time in the early 1970s, Orange Julius also tried to open stores in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. They had a large restaurant in London and a smaller one in Amsterdam. However, Orange Julius left the Dutch market by the mid-1970s.
The Orange Julius Mascot
Orange Julius first started using a devil mascot for their logo way back in 1926. In the 1970s and early 1980s, their drink stands showed a picture of a devil holding a pitchfork next to an orange. Their slogan was, "A Devilish Good Drink."
However, this devil image looked a lot like Sparky, the mascot for Arizona State University. Because of this, the company later stopped using that logo and slogan.
See also
In Spanish: Orange Julius para niños
- Gibeau Orange Julep
- Juice bar
- Morir soñando
