Simple secret to success for Arnold Palmer drink
Don Vultaggio, chairman of Arizona Beverage Company, said he had modest expectations in 2002 when he acquired the rights to make and distribute “Arnold Palmer” — that is, the golfer’s famous concoction of lemonade and ice tea.
It was worse than expected. The company sold about half a million units, according to Vultaggio.
“Most companies would have disbanded it and say, ‘Ah, that doesn’t sell,’ ” Vultaggio told Paste BN Sports. “But I saw something.’’
Palmer, who died Sept. 25, played his last professional round of golf in 2006. And yet as he drifted deeper into retirement, Arnold Palmer the drink became a star.
Last year, Vultaggio said, the company sold 500 million units of the beverage that features a picture of Palmer on the can.
“Arnie asked me one day, ‘How do you sell so much of this stuff?’ " Vultaggio added. "I said, ‘Well, first we put a handsome guy on the can and then we price it fairly.’ He said, ‘Wow, that’s simple.’ And I said, ‘Well, if you keep it simple like your approach to golf.
“He didn’t imagine, not did I, how popular it was going to be."