Martinelli’s is an American beverage brand best known for its 100% apple juice, sparkling apple cider, and other fruit-juice beverages. The brand is produced by S. Martinelli & Company, a privately held, family-owned and operated company based in Watsonville, California, within the fertile Pajaro Valley. The company traces its origins to 1868, giving Martinelli’s more than 150 years of continuous history [1].

Today, Martinelli’s is particularly recognizable for its gold-coloured labels, distinctive glass bottles, apple-shaped juice bottles, and champagne-style sparkling-cider bottles. Its flagship sparkling cider is non-alcoholic and made from 100% U.S.-grown fresh apples [1].

The company states it has received more than 50 gold medals for excellence at state, national, and international expositions, which explains the long-standing “Gold Medal” identity associated with the brand.

Origins: the Martinelli brothers

Martinelli’s story begins with two brothers from Switzerland, Louis and Stephen Martinelli, who immigrated to California during the era surrounding the California Gold Rush.

Louis Martinelli arrived in California first and eventually established himself in the Pajaro Valley, an area particularly well suited to agriculture. His younger brother Stephano later joined him. The brothers discovered that the region’s climate and fertile soil were exceptionally suitable for growing apples [1].

Rather than finding their fortune in California’s gold mines, the brothers found an opportunity in its apple orchards.

Stephen initially operated a small soda-water business. He subsequently produced beverages including ginger ale and a drink called Orange Champagne, before experimenting with fermented apple cider.

1868: S. Martinelli & Company

In 1868, Stephen Martinelli introduced fermented hard apple cider made from apples grown on his brother’s farm. This marked the founding of S. Martinelli & Company [1].

The original Martinelli’s was therefore not originally a non-alcoholic juice company. Its earliest signature product was fermented apple cider.

This is an important part of the brand’s history because the modern Martinelli’s identity is strongly associated with non-alcoholic sparkling cider, even though the company’s roots were in hard cider.

One of the most important events in Martinelli’s history occurred in 1890, when the company’s original hard-cider recipe received a gold medal for excellence at the California State Fair in Sacramento.

That award became the foundation for the “Martinelli’s Gold Medal” name and branding. According to the company, it was the first of more than 50 gold medals that its products would receive over the years [1].

The Gold Medal identity remains central to Martinelli’s branding more than a century later.

The biggest transformation in Martinelli’s history occurred in the early 20th century.

As parts of California began restricting alcohol sales in the years preceding national Prohibition, the company needed a way to preserve and sell apples as a beverage without fermentation.

In 1917, Stephen G. Martinelli Jr. helped develop a pasteurisation process that allowed unfermented apple juice to be preserved in glass bottles for longer periods. This technology became extremely important to the company’s future [1].

Then came Prohibition.

Prohibition

The U.S. Prohibition era began nationally in 1920. Martinelli’s ceased producing hard cider and shifted its attention toward non-alcoholic apple juice and sparkling cider.

This change effectively transformed Martinelli’s from a traditional cider maker into the beverage company that consumers recognise today.

The company’s non-alcoholic products eventually became its flagship business.

One of Martinelli’s most recognisable innovations came in 1933, when the company introduced its distinctive apple-shaped glass bottle, commonly known as the “Golden Apple.”

The bottle was paired with the slogan:

“Drink your apple a day”

The design became one of the strongest visual identifiers of the brand.

The bottle was more than ordinary packaging. It turned the physical shape of an apple into a representation of the product itself.

Even today, Martinelli’s apple-shaped bottles remain one of the company’s most recognisable brand assets.

Martinelli’s also developed an unusual association with Hollywood during the Prohibition era.

Because alcoholic Champagne could not legally be used in many circumstances, sparkling cider served as a substitute for Champagne on movie sets. Martinelli’s says that Paramount, Warner Brothers, and filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille were among those who preferred its Gold Medal product. The company subsequently became associated with the nickname “the Champagne of the movies” [1].

This helped reinforce an important part of Martinelli’s modern identity: celebration without alcohol.

After Prohibition, Martinelli’s continued producing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for a period. However, the popularity of its non-alcoholic sparkling cider and apple juice eventually became dominant.

In 1962, the company introduced its now-famous green 25.4-ounce champagne-style bottle for non-alcoholic sparkling cider. The bottle remains a signature part of the brand’s identity [1].

In 1977, Martinelli’s discontinued hard-cider production to concentrate on the more profitable non-alcoholic sparkling-cider business.

The company later expanded its product portfolio into flavoured sparkling juices, organic products, and other fruit beverages.

Martinelli’s products can broadly be divided into several categories.

Apple juice

The classic Martinelli’s apple juice is made from 100% U.S.-grown fresh apples. The company emphasises that its juices contain no added water, sweeteners, or chemical preservatives.

Apple juice is available in several package formats, including the iconic apple-shaped glass bottle.

Sparkling cider

The Gold Medal Sparkling Cider is probably Martinelli’s most internationally recognisable product.

It is a non-alcoholic carbonated apple juice made from U.S.-grown fresh apples. The company’s current product description states that it contains carbonated apple juice and vitamin C, with no water, alcohol, or sweeteners.

It is particularly associated with:

• Christmas and holiday celebrations
• New Year’s celebrations
• Weddings
• Family gatherings
• Birthdays
• Toasts and special occasions
• Children’s celebrations

This association with celebrations is a major component of the Martinelli’s brand.

Sparkling juice blends

The company has expanded beyond traditional apple cider with products such as:

• Sparkling Apple-Cranberry
• Sparkling Apple-Grape
• Sparkling Blush
• Organic sparkling varieties
• Other fruit blends

Martinelli’s introduced its first sparkling apple-juice blend, Apple-Cranberry, in 1991 and subsequently expanded the range.

Organic products

Martinelli’s also produces USDA-certified organic apple juices, sparkling ciders, and fruit blends. Its organic range includes apple juice, sparkling apple juice, sparkling cider, and several blended varieties.

Hard cider

Although Martinelli’s is overwhelmingly associated today with non-alcoholic products, hard cider remains part of its historical identity.

For its 150th anniversary in 2018, the company introduced 1868 Hard Cider, named after the year Martinelli’s was founded. It was intended to reconnect the modern brand with its original fermented-cider heritage.

Packaging is arguably one of Martinelli’s greatest branding achievements.

The company has two particularly famous bottle designs:

Apple-shaped bottle

The apple-shaped bottle is primarily associated with Martinelli’s apple juice. Its rounded body and embossed leaf detail make the container immediately identifiable as an apple.

Martinelli’s describes the design as the Golden Apple and says the bottle continues to be used today.

Champagne-style bottle

The sparkling cider comes in a champagne-style glass bottle, visually connecting the drink with traditional celebratory beverages while remaining non-alcoholic.

This design dates back to Martinelli’s sparkling-cider tradition and became especially prominent with the company’s 1960s packaging.

The result is an interesting branding strategy: Martinelli’s packaging makes apple juice look like a premium celebratory beverage rather than an ordinary everyday soft drink.

A major part of Martinelli’s brand positioning is its emphasis on the apple itself.

The company’s Gold Medal process involves several major stages:

1. Selecting apples — Martinelli’s uses blends of U.S.-grown apple varieties.
2. Washing and sorting — Apples are inspected and defective fruit is removed.
3. Grinding and pressing — Apples are processed and cold-pressed to extract juice.
4. Pasteurisation — The juice is treated to maintain safety and shelf stability while preserving fresh apple flavour.
5. Bottling — Depending on the product, juice is hot-filled or carbonated and bottled through specialised processes.

Martinelli’s specifically highlights varieties such as Newtown Pippin as part of its apple blends.

Unlike many major American beverage brands that became divisions of enormous multinational corporations, S. Martinelli & Company has remained family-owned and operated.

The company describes itself as having been family-owned and operated since 1868. Multiple generations of the Martinelli family have participated in the business [1].

The company’s leadership has consequently been closely connected to its family heritage, with later generations continuing to operate the company.

This family ownership is an important part of Martinelli’s marketing identity: the company presents itself not simply as a beverage manufacturer, but as a multigenerational American family business.

Martinelli’s is deeply connected to Watsonville, California.

The Pajaro Valley’s agricultural environment was fundamental to the company’s creation because the Martinelli brothers initially relied on locally grown apples.

The company’s long association with Watsonville has also made Martinelli’s part of the area’s industrial and agricultural history. The city of Watsonville’s historical documentation notes Martinelli’s early cider production and its emphasis on using pure apple juice from the region.

The company’s operations, history, and brand identity remain closely tied to the area.

One of the more unusual chapters in Martinelli’s recent history happened in 2020, when social media users discovered that biting into the company’s 10-ounce PET apple-juice bottle produced a surprisingly realistic crunching sound.

The phenomenon became viral on TikTok and other social platforms, introducing Martinelli’s to a new generation of consumers. The company itself records the event as an important moment in its recent history [1].

This was particularly significant because it demonstrated that Martinelli’s century-old packaging and brand could become relevant within a modern social-media culture without fundamentally changing its core product.

Martinelli’s branding revolves around several recurring ideas:

🍎 Apples

The apple is the central visual and conceptual element. The company connects its identity directly to fresh U.S.-grown apples and to the agricultural heritage of the Pajaro Valley.

🥂 Celebration

The champagne-style bottle makes Martinelli’s resemble a traditional celebratory beverage. Its non-alcoholic status allows children and adults alike to participate in toasts and celebrations.

🏅 Gold Medal heritage

The Gold Medal name originates from the company’s 1890 award and has become a permanent part of its identity.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family heritage

More than 150 years of family ownership gives Martinelli’s a strong heritage-oriented identity.

🇺🇸 American manufacturing

The company emphasises U.S.-grown fresh apples and its long history of production in California.

🫙 Traditional packaging

Unlike many modern beverage companies that continuously redesign their packaging, Martinelli’s has retained distinctive bottle shapes and visual elements for generations.

Martinelli’s occupies an unusual position in the beverage industry.

It is simultaneously:

• An apple-juice company
• A sparkling-cider brand
• A heritage American company
• A family-owned business
• A celebration beverage
• A premium-looking non-alcoholic alternative
• A company with roots stretching back to the 19th century

Its strongest competitive advantage is not simply the taste of apple juice. It is the combination of product, bottle, history, nostalgia, and occasion.

A bottle of Martinelli’s sparkling cider is designed to look appropriate at a New Year’s toast or holiday dinner, even though it contains no alcohol. That positioning has helped the brand remain recognisable across generations [1].

As of 2026, Martinelli’s remains a family-owned American beverage company centred on apple juice, sparkling cider, organic beverages, and fruit-juice blends. The company continues to emphasise its Gold Medal heritage, U.S.-grown apples, distinctive packaging, and more than 150 years of history.

Its official brand philosophy is summarised by the company as “Real fruit. Real joy.”, reflecting its positioning around natural fruit, celebration, and positive family experiences.

1. Making Apple Juice Since 1868 – Our History – S. Martinelli & Co