Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites and vanilla flavoring, similar to a morir soñando or orange Creamsicle.
History
The drink grew out of an orange juice stand opened in Los Angeles, California in 1926 by Julius Freed. Sales were initially modest, about $20 a day. In 1929, Bill Hamlin, Freed's real estate broker, developed a mixture that made the acidic orange juice less bothersome to his stomach. Freed's stand began serving the drink, which had a frothier, creamier texture. The sales at the stand increased substantially after the introduction of the new drink, going up to $100 a day. During the 1950s and 1960s, Orange Julius was sold at a variety of outlets, including state and county fairs and freestanding Orange Julius stands. The original stand also provided medicinal tonics and Bible tracts. It now has hundreds of stores in malls across America and Canada, in Singapore, Puerto Rico, South Korea, the Philippines and Japan.
Naming and mascot
The Orange Julius was named the official drink of the 1964 New York World's Fair. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Orange Julius beverage stands used the image of a devil with a pitchfork, similar to that of the Arizona State University mascot, Sparky, around an orange, with the slogan, "A Devilish Good Drink". The company later dropped the logo and slogan after threats of a lawsuit from the ASU alumni association. For a short period in the early 1970s, Orange Julius expanded into the UK and Dutch markets, with a fairly large restaurant in Golders Green, selling Julius Burgers as well as the classic orange drink, and a small outlet in the city center of Amsterdam. However, this had gone by the mid-70s.
Acquisitions
In 1987, the Orange Julius chain was bought by International Dairy Queen. IDQ, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, owns the rights to all Orange Julius stores and has expanded the chain so its drinks are offered at many of its Dairy Queen stores, called Treat Centers. In 2004, Orange Julius launched a line of Premium Fruit Smoothies to compete with smoothie competitors such as Jamba Juice and Smoothie King. In 2012, Dairy Queen introduced the Orange Julius Beverages in its restaurants. In February 2019, Dairy Queen permanently stopped offering the Orange Julius Beverage line in their Dairy Queen Restaurants. The full Orange Julius menu is still available at Orange Julius locations, and Dairy Queen locations that sell treats only will continue to offer some flavors of the Orange Julius Premium Fruit Smoothies.
