The Daily Populous Thursday February 5th, 2026 evening edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by AudibleNod

Social media is mourning a freezer aisle staple.

The Coca-Cola Company said it is discontinuing Minute Maid’s cans of frozen orange juice concentrate in the U.S. and Canada.

The iconic, slush-filled tubes of orange juice concentrate, which have been around for 80 years, sit in the freezer section of most supermarkets, where they’ve waited patiently to be used for party punches, smoothies and Orange Juliuses — but not for long.

“We are discontinuing our frozen products and exiting the frozen can category in response to shifting consumer preferences,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said. “With the juice category growing strongly, we’re focusing on products that better match what our consumers want. Frozen products will be discontinued in Q1 2026, with in-store inventory available while supplies last.”

So, if you’re feeling nostalgic, you have until April to grab a few ice-cold cans for old times’ sake.

As expected, people online are beside themselves as a staple bit of Americana travels down the long, dusty road to obscurity.

“NOOOOOO! This is my literal childhood,” wrote one Instagram user on snack-spotting account Markie_devo’s post about the news.

“How am I supposed to make margaritas?!” wrote another.

“Sad! I know concentrate is not ideal, but it was a cost-effective option and still higher in actual nutrition than trendy drinks like kombucha that are now popular,” wrote an X user.

The process to make juice concentrate was invented by the research team C. D. Atkins, Edwin Moore and Louis MacDowell in the 1940s. They improved flavor over other preservation methods (which apparently were not tasty in the least), reduced shipping costs and increased shelf stability.

According to the Minute Maid website, back in 1946, the then-called Vacuum Foods Corporation shipped the first frozen concentrated orange juice product in the U.S., which the company named Minute Maid. The product took off, and the rest, as they say, is history.

And now, Minute Maid’s cans of frozen concentrate are history, too.

CaptainLawyerDude on February 5th, 2026 at 13:43 UTC »

Pink lemonade out of that damn can was my childhood.

Chas_Tenenbaums_Sock on February 5th, 2026 at 13:33 UTC »

RIP my dad’s margarita recipe 🪦

Villag3Idiot on February 5th, 2026 at 13:16 UTC »

These used to be so cheap, saves a lot of space, and you can control how sweet it is.