Arnold Shepard Greenberg (September 2, 1932 – October 26, 2012) was an American businessman who co-founded

Snapple Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, based in Plano, Texas, United States. The original producer of Snapple, a company that was known as Unadulterated Food Products, was founded in 1972. The brand achieved ...

, a brand of tea and juice drinks, in the 1970s with Leonard Marsh, his former high school classmate, and Hyman Golden, who was Marsh's

brother-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling or the sibling of one’s spouse. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred to as a brother-in-law for a male sibling-in-law and a sister-in-law for a female sibling-in-law. Sibling-in-law al ...

. Greenberg later became the vice president and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

of the Snapple Corporation and retired after the 1994 acquisition of the brand to

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national ad ...

Early years

Greenberg was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

familyNew York Times: "Ads by Snapple Deride Rumors"
September 2, 1993 , ''"We are three Jewish boys from New York accused of supporting the Ku Klux Klan -- something I despise," Mr. Marsh said. "I can't handle it any more. I support people going against the Ku Klux Klan"'' in 1932 in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and raised in the Brownsville neighborhood. He attended

Samuel J. Tilden High School Samuel J. Tilden High School was a List of high schools in New York City, New York City public high school in the East Flatbush, Brooklyn, East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York City. It was named for Samuel J. Tilden, the former govern ...

East Flatbush East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the Lon ...

. His father owned a store in Manhattan's East Village located on First Avenue near St. Mark's Place. The store sold mainstays of the city's traditional

Jewish cuisine Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (''kashrut''), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions cen ...

, including

pickles Pickle, pickled or Pickles may refer to: Food * Pickle, a food that has undergone pickling * Pickled cucumber * Pickle, a sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain, such as Branston Pickle, also known as "sweet pickle" or "ploughman's ...

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

and

lox Lox is a fillet of brined salmon, which may be smoked. Lox is frequently served on a bagel with cream cheese, and often garnished with tomato, onion, cucumber, and capers. Etymology The American English word ''lox'' is a borrowing of Yiddi ...

. Arnold Greenberg was running the day-to-day operations of his father's store by the 1950s.

Career

Greenberg changed the business into a

health food store A health food store (or health food shop) is a type of grocery store that primarily sells healthful foods, organic foods, local produce, and often nutritional supplements. Health food stores typically offer a wider or more specialized selectio ...

in the 1960s as the neighborhood transitioned from largely Jewish into a

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

enclave. In 1972, he partnered with two friends, brothers-in-law Leonard Marsh and Hyman Golden, a classmate from

, to launch a new business, Unadulterated Food Products, which would later become known Snapple.

Death

Greenberg died from a long battle with cancer in New York City on October 26, 2012, at the age of 80. He was survived by his second wife, Roberta Budoff; two daughters from his first marriage to his late first wife, Susan Minster and Robin Nijankin; his brother, Herbert; three stepchildren; and fourteen grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Marilyn Parmet, who died in 1993, and their son, Michael Greenberg. A resident of

Delray Beach, Florida Delray Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population of Delray Beach as of April 1, 2020, was 66,846 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 United States Census. Located in the Miami metropolitan area, De ...

, Greenberg also kept homes in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stre ...

and

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenberg, Arnold 1932 births 2012 deaths American drink industry businesspeople American food company founders 20th-century American Jews Drink company founders People from Brownsville, Brooklyn People from Delray Beach, Florida People from Southampton (town), New York Samuel J. Tilden High School alumni 21st-century American Jews