One thing about Arizona Iced Tea: It’s been a staple snack drink in the black community since cans first hit stores in the early 90s!
More than three decades later, it remains one of the few drinks to maintain its $0.99 price tag. Its founder, Dom Vultaggiois now clarifying whether it plans to keep the price of canned drinks below $1 or increase it!
Here is the tea in the cheap canned drink
Don spoke about the matter in a new interview shared today on Wednesday (June 26). NBC reporter Savannah Sellers asked Don why his company didn’t raise the price of its cans of Arizona Iced Tea, suggesting it would increase profits. The founder kept his answer simple.
“We are successful. We have no debt; we own everything. Why?” Don replied.
Furthermore, he said: “Why did people who are having trouble paying their rent have to pay more for our booze?” For Don, their price is perhaps his “small way of giving back,” and he has no plans to increase it, at least “not in the near future.”
“We will fight as hard as we can for consumers,” Don shared.
So there’s your answer, roommates. Arizona Iced Tea 23-ounce beverages will remain the same affordable $0.99 price point they’ve always been. And that’s straight from the founder’s mouth!
Arizona Iced Tea started as a humble family business
To contextualize, Forbes Reports that Don’s company earns approximately $4 billion annually from the sale of tea, juice, water and alcoholic beverages. Meanwhile, the man himself is worth an estimated $6.6 billion.
But selling drinks didn’t always make him a big bank! In fact, the outlet reports that Don started selling beer and soda out of the back of an old van in the 1970s. He made a name for himself by serving neighbors in Brooklyn that others wouldn’t.
Then, in 1992, he launched Arizona Iced Tea in a Brooklyn warehouse, standing out with its tall cans, flashy designs and low price.
Now in his early 70s, Don Vultaggio has made sure the business remains family-friendly. His wife designed his signature canned beverage — the turquoise one with yellow accents and pink flowers.
Additionally, his sons serve as the brand’s creative director and marketing director. Don says working with his kids has been “great” and recommends other parents do the same. “I see them all the time,” the founder shared.
Watch Don’s full interview about his Arizona iced tea business below.
Speaking of snacks and summer essentials, the Food & Drug Administration recently recalled more than 60 ice cream products, including from brands like Hershey’s, LaSalle and Dolcezza Gelato.
RELATED: Uh-Oh! FDA Announces Nationwide Recall of More Than 60 Ice Cream Products
What do you think, roommates?