National Beverage Corp. is an American beverage developer, manufacturer, and distributor based in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, focused on flavored

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

s, with its most noted brands being

La Croix La Croix primarily refers to: * ''La Croix'' (newspaper), a French Catholic newspaper * La Croix Sparkling Water, a beverage distributed by the National Beverage Corporation La Croix or Lacroix may also refer to: Places * Lacroix-Barrez, a muni ...

, Shasta, and

Faygo Faygo Beverages, Inc., is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United ...

History

The company was formed in 1985 by Nick A. Caporella to fend off an unwanted acquisition by

Victor Posner Victor Posner (September 18, 1918 – February 11, 2002) was an American businessman. He was one of the highest-paid business executives of his generation. He was a pioneer of the leveraged buyout and became notorious for asset strippin ...

of Burnup & Sims Inc., an installer of cable television and telecommunications systems, through trading stock between the two companies to reduce Posner's ownership level. Caporella, now having an additional company, needed to have a business to go with it and acquired Shasta Beverages from

Sara Lee Corporation The Sara Lee Corporation was an American consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois. It had operations in more than 40 countries and sold its products in over 180 countries. Its international operations were headquartered in Utrecht ...

in 1985 for US$40 million in cash and Burnup & Sims shares. To make National a major player, Caporella purchased

, a Midwest regional soft drink manufacturer, from Tree Sweet Products Corp. With its 12

bottling plant A bottling company is a commercial enterprise whose output is the bottling of beverages for distribution. Many bottling companies are franchisees of corporations such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo who distribute the beverage in a specific geographic ...

s, National subsidiaries branched out into bottling

store brand A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

s. In 1991, National Beverage went public to sell Burnup & Sims's shares in National Beverage, which was partially successful. A Burnup & Sims stockholder sued due to Caporella's salary from Burnup and percentage of revenue from National Beverage, forcing Caporella to spend less time managing the company. In the early 1990s, Spree, an all-natural, carbonated soft drink, and Big Shot, a regional, multiflavored soft drink line, were acquired. In 1992, the US Navy contracted for the manufacture of "Sea", their ship store's brand. In the mid-1990s, juice producer, Everfresh Beverages Inc. and WinterBrook Corp., a carbonated and still water producer, became subsidiaries of National. WinterBrook brought three brands to the National Beverage group of companies: Cascadia, WinterBrook Clear, and LaCroix. National acquired Home Juice Company, home of the Home Juice and Mr. Pure brands, at the end of the 1990s. In the early 2000s, National purchased Beverage Canners International Inc., Ritz, and Crystal Bay soft drinks and sparkling waters brands owner. In 2002, the company changed its strategy by focusing on bottling its own brands and end

private-label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

bottling. National moved to create new products for specific markets starting in 2003 with Shasta Shortz, a kid-focused soda. Also that year, Fruitika, a fruit nectars line, went out to the stores. In 2004, Diet Shasta started using Splenda No Calorie Sweetener. National also launched new energy drink lines starting with Rip It, a general energy drink line. A woman-focused line, Chic, and Freek for teenagers and young adults, soon followed. National also tried a coffee-based energy drink, Triple Hit.

List of brands

* Shasta *

* Everfresh *

La Croix Sparkling Water LaCroix or La Croix ( ) is an American brand of sparkling water that originated in La Crosse, Wisconsin, by G. Heileman Brewing Company and is now distributed by National Beverage Corporation. Their flavors include various fruits and fruit ble ...

Rip It Rip It is an American brand of energy drink that is produced and distributed by National Beverage Corp., maker of Shasta, Faygo, and La Croix. It was introduced in 2004 and is National Beverage Corp.'s first energy drink. Marketed as "energ ...

* ClearFruit * Mr. Pure * Ritz * Crystal Bay *

Cascadia Sparkling Clear Cascadia and Cascadian are terms that derive from the Cascade Range and may refer to: Places * Cascadia, Oregon * Tehaleh, Washington, formerly known as Cascadia * Cascadia State Park * Diocese of Cascadia Regional * Cascadia Channel, a de ...

Ohana Punch Faygo Beverages, Inc., is a soft drink company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The beverages produced by the company, branded as Faygo or Faygo Pop, are distributed in the Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Central Southern regions of the United ...

* Big Shot *

Double Hit A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

References

External links

* {{Soft drink Food and drink companies established in 1985 Drink companies of the United States Companies based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Companies listed on the Nasdaq Food and drink companies based in Florida 1985 establishments in Florida 1991 initial public offerings Meme stock