- Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV), "Packaging success": Rausing asked Wallenberg, a newly hired laboratory assistant, to create a new paper milk carton; he went home, thought it over, and came up with a one-piece tetrahedron; "His name was not on the filed patent application"; in 1991 he received the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences' Great Gold Medal; the Tetra Brik application was filed in 1963. Government wanted cheap cartons. https://www.prv.se/en/patents/the-advanced-patent-guide/examples-of-what-patents-cost/examples-of-patents/packaging-success/
- Tetra Pak heritage, Ruben Rausing: 1929 Åkerlund & Rausing; first Tetra Pak machine delivered September 1952 to Lundaortens Mejeriförening (Lund dairy); November 1952 cream sold in one-decilitre tetrahedron packages. https://www.tetrapak.com/about-tetra-pak/who-we-are/heritage/ruben-rausing
- Tetra Pak heritage timeline: AB Tetra Pak founded 1951 in Lund; 1961 aseptic milk machine (no refrigeration needed); 1969 Tetra Brik Aseptic. https://tetrapak.com/en-ca/about-tetra-pak/who-we-are/heritage
- Wikipedia, Erik Wallenberg (secondary, for dating the idea to the 1940s; patent filed by Rausing March 1944): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Wallenberg
- Lesser Tedium, "Juice Boxes: A Packaging Format that was Secretly an Import" (Ernie Smith, 2023): juice boxes arrived in the US in the early 1980s; by the end of the decade "one-fifth of all juice sold in the U.S." came in them; small version of the Tetra Brik Aseptic. https://readtedium.substack.com/p/juice-box-packaging-history
- Wikipedia, Juice box (secondary, consistent: about 20% of the US juice market by 1986; no refrigeration needed): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_box
- Institute of Food Technologists, Food Technology (April 2000): in 1989, for IFT's 50th anniversary, its Expert Panel "selected aseptic processing and packaging as the most significant innovation in food science" in IFT's existence; the "ubiquitous juice box" as the common container. https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2000/april/columns/processing
Food Stories · Episode 11 · Food brand history
Who Invented the Juice Box? The Carton From Sweden
The juice box traces back to a paper carton invented in 1940s Sweden. Erik Wallenberg's tetrahedron, the Tetra Brik, and how boxes reached US lunchboxes.
Video coming soonThe short answer
The juice box started in Sweden. In the 1940s Ruben Rausing wanted a cheap paper carton for milk, and young lab assistant Erik Wallenberg came up with a one-piece tetrahedron. Wallenberg's name wasn't on the patent, but he received a major Swedish engineering medal for it in 1991. The brick shape followed in 1963, then germ-free filling meant boxes could sit on a shelf without a fridge. Juice boxes reached the US in the early 1980s.
- The first carton machine went to a dairy in Lund, Sweden, in 1952, filling small pyramids with cream.
- Aseptic (germ-free) packing let boxes be stored without refrigeration.
- By the end of the 1980s about one fifth of all juice sold in the US came in boxes.
- In 1989 food scientists named aseptic processing and packaging the most significant food science innovation of the previous 50 years.
The story (transcript)
Narration from the episode, as it is spoken.
You poke the straw in. You squeeze a little too hard. Juice everywhere. Classic.
So where did the juice box come from? Sweden.
In the nineteen forties, a Swedish businessman named Ruben Rausing wanted a cheap paper carton for milk. He gave the job to his lab.
A young lab assistant named Erik Wallenberg went home, thought it over, and came back with a shape made from one piece of paper. A tetrahedron. Four triangle sides, like a little pyramid.
Now, legend versus truth. Ruben's is the famous name. But the shape was Erik's idea, and Erik's name wasn't on the patent. Decades later, in nineteen ninety-one, Swedish engineers gave him a big gold medal for it.
In nineteen fifty-two, the first machine went to a dairy in Lund, Sweden, filling little pyramids with cream.
Pyramids are hard to stack. So in nineteen sixty-three came the brick. Then they learned to fill it germ free, so a box could sit on a shelf without a fridge.
In the early nineteen eighties, those boxes came to America and fit right in a lunchbox. By the end of the decade, about one fifth of all juice sold here came in a box.
Fun fact. In nineteen eighty-nine, food scientists picked germ free packing as their most important idea of the past fifty years.
Today, Wonderade comes in a box too. Eight grams of protein, zero grams of added sugar, and real fruit.
Brought to you by Wonderade, the juice you wish you had when you were growing up.
Questions people ask
- Who invented the juice box?
- The carton behind it came from Tetra Pak in Sweden. Founder Ruben Rausing is the famous name, but Sweden's patent office credits the original tetrahedron idea to lab assistant Erik Wallenberg.
- When did juice boxes come to America?
- In the early 1980s. By the end of that decade about one fifth of all juice sold in the US came in boxes.
- Why don't juice boxes need a fridge?
- They are filled aseptically: the drink and the package are sterilized and sealed germ free, so unopened boxes can be stored on a shelf.
Sources
Each source is listed with the facts we took from it.
How we checked this
What we simplified, hedged or left out, and why.
- "Learned to fill it germ free" compresses 1961 (aseptic milk machine) and 1969 (Tetra Brik Aseptic); no year is narrated for that step.
- "One fifth of all juice" by the end of the 1980s is from Lesser Tedium; Wikipedia's ~20% by 1986 is consistent. The often-cited "1981 FDA approval" was not confirmed against an FDA document, so it is left out.
- "Most important idea" is IFT's 1989 expert-panel pick, said as "food scientists picked".
Brought to you by Wonderade
Wonderade is a kids' juice box. See the nutrition facts or meet the flavors.