Before it was sitting in deli coolers across Long Island, Snapple started as a side hustle run by three Brooklyn entrepreneurs with no experience in the beverage business. What began as a small operation selling natural drinks to health food stores turned into one of the most recognizable brands of the 1990s with a few unexpected twists along the way.
History
- Snapple was established in 1972 by Leonard Marsh, Hyman Golden, and Arnold Greenberg
- A fourth early backer reportedly exited the business under disputed circumstances before it took off
- The company’s original name was Unadulterated Food Products, Inc.
- In its early days, the business operated as a side project for its founders
- None of the founders had prior experience producing juice
- Marsh once joked he knew as much about juice-making as he did about building an atomic bomb
- Marsh and Golden were brothers-in-law who also ran a window-cleaning business
- Greenberg owned a health food store in Manhattan’s East Village
- The original goal was to supply natural beverages to health food stores in New York City
- The name “Snapple” came later, borrowed from an unsuccessful drink flavor
- The word “Snapple” combines “snappy” and “apple”
- The brand name had already been registered by a small Texas company
- The founders purchased the rights to the name for $500
- One early product was a carbonated apple drink called Snapple
- Fermentation caused pressure buildup in the bottles, sometimes forcing the caps off
- The same fermentation process led to slight alcohol formation in the drink
- Golden later remarked, “We’d made Champagne.”
- During the 1980s, the company experienced rapid expansion, with sales more than doubling annually
- A key factor in that growth was the launch of brewed iced tea products
- Snapple introduced its Lemon Iced Tea in 1987
- Greenberg described it as one of the first fully brewed teas rather than a powdered mix
- In 1989, revenue from noncarbonated beverages jumped 600% in the first half of the year
- The company relocated its headquarters from Brooklyn to Long Island in 1991
- Snapple gained exposure through radio ads featuring Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh before their peak notoriety
- In the early 1990s, the company dealt with damaging false rumors, including claims tying it to extremist groups
- The brand slogan became “Made from the Best Stuff on Earth.”
- Snapple went public in 1992, pricing shares at $20
- Four million shares were sold, with the price rising to $33
- In 1994, Quaker Oats Company acquired Snapple for $1.7 billion in cash
- At the time, Snapple generated roughly $700 million in annual sales
- Quaker sold the brand in 1997 for $300 million to Triarc Companies
- All three original founders have since died
Wendy the Snapple Lady
- In the early 1990s, Snapple commercials prominently featured the “Snapple Lady”
- The role was played by real employee Wendy Kaufman
- Kaufman read and responded to letters sent in by customers
- She originally worked in the order department and took it upon herself to answer fan mail
- Her efforts caught the attention of the company’s advertising agency
- She was promoted to on-camera spokesperson
- Her job title at one point included “Order Department Administrator, Marketing Associate, original Letter-Opener and official Snapple Lady”
- She appeared in 36 television commercials
- Kaufman attended Lawrence High School in Cedarhurst
- She has said that being ignored after writing to the actor who played Greg Brady inspired her to respond to every Snapple fan letter
- At its peak, Snapple received about 500 letters per day
- The company eventually hired another employee with the same name to help manage the volume
- In 2016, Kaufman revealed she had struggled with a drug addiction prior to her rise as the brand’s spokesperson
Flavors
- At one stage, the company offered 59 different beverage varieties
- Peach Tea has consistently ranked as Snapple’s most popular flavor
- Discontinued flavors have included Papaya Colada and Lime Green Tea
- Developing a new flavor typically took between six months and one year
- The Guava Mania flavor nearly launched under alternate names like Guava Vavoom or Guava Nagila
Snapple Facts
- The idea for Snapple’s famous bottle cap trivia reportedly emerged during a routine marketing meeting
- In 2002, the company began printing “Real Facts” beneath bottle caps
- The concept was designed to use the unused space under the cap for short, engaging trivia
- The first printed fact stated that a goldfish’s attention span is three seconds
- That original fact has since been retired
- Nearly 1,100 different facts have been created, with about 256 circulating at any given time
- The company introduces roughly 75 to 100 new facts each year
- Many facts have been revised or removed following updated research and customer feedback
- A full list of facts is available on Snapple’s website
- Sample facts have included:
- Mosquitoes are more attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas
- The average woman consumes about six pounds of lipstick over her lifetime
- Americans collectively eat the equivalent of 18 acres of pizza each day
- Licking a stamp burns approximately 10 calories
- Some of these facts have been criticized as outdated, exaggerated, or incorrect
- Various media outlets have conducted independent fact-checks on Snapple’s trivia
- Consumers can text “REALFACT” to 762-775 to receive daily facts by phone
