Anthony T. Rossi
Founder of Tropicana Products
Anthony Talamo Rossi (September 13, 1900 – January 24, 1993) was an Italian-born American who founded Tropicana Products, a producer of orange juice, in 1947 in Bradenton, Florida. It grew from 50 employees to over 8,000 in 2004, expanding into multiple product lines and becoming one of the world's largest producers and marketers of citrus juice.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Anthony T. Rossi (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Sep 13, 1900, died Jan 24, 1993.1
About
Rossi was an early pioneer in including Florida's citrus juices in school meal programs. He also became a noted religiously-oriented businessman, making annual pilgrimages back to Sicily where he helped build a church and mission. In the U.S., he married Sana Barlow and endowed the Aurora Foundation, which has funded various Christian programs.
From Wikipedia’s article on Anthony T. Rossi, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Tropicana ProductsFounder8
Early life and education
Rossi was born on September 13, 1900, in Messina, Sicily. He graduated from high school and emigrated to the United States when he was 21. Rossi originally started as a machinist's assistant and later worked as a taxi driver. From there, he created a limousine company and was a grocer at some point in New York City. He also worked as a farmer in Virginia and Florida, the latter which he moved to in 1940. In Florida, he was a restaurateur too.
In 1945, Rossi settled in Palmetto, Florida. In this city, he founded Manatee River Packing Company, where he shipped packaged gift fruit. He also began sectioning citrus fruit like grapefruit into jars and selling them mainly to the Waldorf Astoria in New York. In 1949, Rossi moved the business from Palmetto to Bradenton and changed the name to Fruit Industries, Inc. There, Rossi produced frozen concentrate orange juice.
From Wikipedia’s article on Anthony T. Rossi (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: businessperson.4
- Date not recordedFounded Tropicana Products3
Personal life
His first wife, Florence Lillian Starke, was the daughter of a Methodist minister. She died in 1952.
On December 1, 1959, Rossi married his second wife, Sanna Barlow Morrison.
From Wikipedia’s article on Anthony T. Rossi (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataAnthony T. Rossi on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaAnthony T. Rossi on Wikipedia
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- 8WikidataTropicana Products, Founder
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