Orbitz (drink)

Orbitz was a short-lived non-carbonated fruit-flavored beverage produced by The Clearly Food & Beverage Company of Canada, makers of Clearly Canadian. It was introduced in May 1996, then later disappeared due to poor sales. The drink was sold in six flavors, and made with small floating edible balls. Orbitz was marketed as a "texturally enhanced alternative beverage" but some consumers compared it to a portable lava lamp.[1][2]

Orbitz
TypeSoft drink
ManufacturerThe Clearly Food & Beverage Company
Country of origin Canada
IntroducedMay 1996
Discontinued2000
Related productsClearly Canadian

The small balls floated due to their nearly equal density to the surrounding liquid, and remained suspended with the assistance of gellan gum. The gellan gum provided a support matrix and had a visual clarity approaching that of water, which increased with the addition of sugar. The gellan gum created a very weak yield stress which has been measured to be ~0.04 Pa.[3] The product's website was bought by the Internet-based travel agency named Orbitz.

Unopened bottles from the drink's original launch have become a collector's item, appearing on online auction websites. The Clearly Food & Beverage Company states that the proprietary equipment that made Orbitz broke down and the trademark is no longer owned by the company.[1] In July 2013, Clearly Canadian stated that it was considering producing a limited run of new products to satisfy "nostalgia demand", with the possibility of annual issues thereafter based on consumer reception of the initial batch.

Flavors

Several flavors of Orbitz were produced:[4]

  • Raspberry Citrus
  • Blueberry Melon Strawberry
  • Pineapple Banana Cherry Coconut
  • Vanilla Orange
  • Black Currant Berry
  • Charlie Brown Chocolate

Featured in the 1999 Gregg Araki film Splendor (1999 film) when Kelly MacDonald's character opens a fridge full of Orbitz's and drinks one.

See also

References
  1. "Top 10 Bad Beverage Ideas". Time. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  2. Kealey, Helena (November 19, 2014). "The Apprentice: how many of these soft drinks from the past do you remember?". The Telegraph. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
  3. Dontula, P.; Macosko, C.W. (1999). "Yield Stress in Orbitz" (PDF). Rheology Bulletin. 68 (1): 5–6 – via The Rheology Bulletin Collection.
  4. Foodology (2011-02-26). "Orbitz: the Forgotten Drink With Balls". Foodology. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
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