Whether you brought your own lunch or bought lunch at the school cafeteria, your school food choices were definitely always super important. We’ve talked about all sorts of memorable treats in the past, like Dunkaroos, Gushers, and Capri-Sun (click view all of our ‘90s lunchbox staple articles), and today is no exception, because today we’re delving into another important cafeteria drink of the ‘90s: Snapple. Though Snapple had technically been around since the ‘70s in one form or another, it wasn’t until the ‘90s that their popularity truly took off. Curious about where your favorite teas and juices came from? Read on.
Snapple was first founded in 1972 by Leonard Marsh, Hyman Golden, and Arnold Greenberg in Long Island, New York, but the name wasn’t nearly so snappy back then. Their original name for the company? Unadulterated Food Products. Yeah, doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it? The company’s original intention was as a part-time venture that would supply fruit juices to health food stores, as Greenberg himself owned his own health food store. The other two operated a window washing business. If you’re thinking, “what did they know about fruit juice?” well, you wouldn’t be alone. Even Marsh himself admitted they really didn’t know what they were doing in the beginning in a 1989 interview.
The Snapple name itself originated in the early ‘80s when the company had created a carbonated apple juice that they had dubbed Snapple as a combination of the words “snappy” and “apple.” That drink started to get some momentum for the company, which may have been because some of the bottles began to ferment, making the juice turn alcoholic! This drink didn’t last long, but it did inspire the company to change its name to the Snapple Beverage Corporation in the early ‘80s. Still, despite some growing popularity on the East Coast with their drinks, it wasn’t until 1987 that Snapple would strike their own proverbial gold when they came up with a new way to brew iced tea that could be bottled without using a bunch of preservatives.
By the following year, they released a lemon-flavored iced tea that quickly shot to popularity, with demand outweighing supply for about a year. Everyone wanted to get one of their 53 different flavors. Still, at this point, Snapple was mainly still being distributed on the East Coast. It wasn’t until the early ‘90s that they started expanding throughout the country thanks to some capital investments, and it’s a good thing they got this influx of money, too, because the big behemoths in the beverage industry were taking notice: both Coke and Pepsi partnered with existing tea companies Lipton and Nestea, respectively, to create their own iced teas to bring to the market.
Some thought that those guys would bring Snapple down, but that wasn’t the case, Snapple continued to thrive thanks to their marketing efforts, which included some commercials with the tagline “made from the best stuff on earth” as well as live radio commercials featuring Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh. But what Snapple truly fun and memorable during the ‘90s was the introducing of the Snapple Lady. The Snapple Lady was an actual employee named Wendy Kaufman who worked at Snapple in the ordering department and would write back to any fans who had written in to the company. When someone from the ad agency met her, they realized she could be a great asset in commercials. Between 1993 and 1996, she had starred in at least 36 different Snapple commercials where she would read fan mail. Check out some of them below:
Snapple was definitely super popular in the ‘90s, and was often a status symbol among high schoolers in the lunch cafeteria. My personal favorite flavor was Kiwi Strawberry, but what about you? Were you more into the classic Lemon Tea? Or were you more of a Pink Lemonade fan? No matter your favorite, there’s no doubt you probably tried Snapple at one point in the ‘90s! Let us know all of your Snapple memories in the comments! But first, if you have wanted to try Snapple again but haven’t in awhile, here are some of our favorite flavors:
- Snapple juice is made from all-natural ingredients making fun, fruity flavors
- Get the party started with Mango Madness, or sample Kiwi Strawberry or Snapple Apple to see which is your preferred choice
- Snapple drinks are known for having “Real Facts” printed under their lids. Though most of them are true, some of them are false, including “Broccoli is the only vegetable that is also a flower.” Other vegetables are also flowers, including cauliflower and artichokes.
- The Snapple Lady used to be really into cocaine in the ‘80s. She admitted to Oprah that she had a real cocaine problem, and her job at Snapple was what brought her out of the addiction.
- In 1992, there was a rumor that Snapple supported the KKK. However, it was completely unfounded. Proponents of the rumor argued that the “K” on the bottle’s label represented the KKK. “K” actually stood for kosher. They also argued that the label’s picture of a ship was meant to portray a slave ship, but the ship was just a drawing of the Boston tea party. They eventually changed the label to avoid further controversy.
- Prior to the introduction of their signature iced tea, Snapple made just $3 million in sales in 1986. By 1994, their sales had increased to $700 million that year.
- These days, Snapple is owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc., which you can guess is also a combination of other previously separate companies, including Keurig, Dr. Pepper, Green Mountain Coffee, Canada Dry, Yoo-hoo, and others.
- Snapple drinks are known for having “Real Facts” printed under their lids. Though most of them are true, some of them are false, including “Broccoli is the only vegetable that is also a flower.” Other vegetables are also flowers, including cauliflower and artichokes.
- The Snapple Lady used to be really into cocaine in the ‘80s. She admitted to Oprah that she had a real cocaine problem, and her job at Snapple was what brought her out of the addiction.
- In 1992, there was a rumor that Snapple supported the KKK. However, it was completely unfounded. Proponents of the rumor argued that the “K” on the bottle’s label represented the KKK. “K” actually stood for kosher. They also argued that the label’s picture of a ship was meant to portray a slave ship, but the ship was just a drawing of the Boston tea party. They eventually changed the label to avoid further controversy.
- Prior to the introduction of their signature iced tea, Snapple made just $3 million in sales in 1986. By 1994, their sales had increased to $700 million that year.
- These days, Snapple is owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc., which you can guess is also a combination of other previously separate companies, including Keurig, Dr. Pepper, Green Mountain Coffee, Canada Dry, Yoo-hoo, and others.
1 thought on “’90s Lunchbox Staple: Snapple”
I’m about to stop buying Snapple products, even though I love the ice tea. I cant stand the Company’s disgusting use of heavy-duty plastic bottles! Wake up, Snapple! You are killing the planet! I’m going to boycott! Change back to glass bottles!!