La Croix Sparkling Water facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
LaCroix

355ml can of LaCroix Orange
Type	Sparkling water
Manufacturer	National Beverage Corporation
Country of origin	La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States
Introduced	1980; 44 years ago (1980)

LaCroix or La Croix (/ləˈkrɔɪ/ LƏ-kroy) 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 blends.

History

In February 1980, the G. Heileman Brewing Company, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, introduced LaCroix as one of the first "Anti-Perrier" brands. Meant to appeal to sparkling water consumers who were put off by Perrier's "snobbish positioning", LaCroix marketed to its niche by imaging itself as an "all occasion" beverage.

The beverage fared well in popularity and sales in the surrounding Midwest region for the following decade. By 1992, the brand was estimated to be worth US$25 million. However, in the same year, due to Heileman's admitted lack of experience outside the beer market, it sold the brand to National Beverage (then Winterbrook).

In 2002, National Beverage sought to rebrand LaCroix and ended up settling on the design that was "least favored by management" but won over target consumers in a "landslide". Instead of staying with a clean and simple designs like other water brands, they found that a more bold and colorful approach was more appealing to their audience. The successful execution of the “anti-Perrier” strategy, in all its forms, has been a key factor enabling LaCroix to become one of the top sparkling water brands.

Since the early 1990s, LaCroix had been a fairly well-known product in the Midwest United States. Then, in the spring of 2015, with sugary-soda sales plummeting to a 30-year low in the U.S., National Beverage saw an opportunity to expand their consumer base, subsequently launching a marketing campaign for the beverage on social media, specifically targeting millennials. Sales “exploded” as the brand developed a national “cult following.” Their marketing efforts have since helped position LaCroix with mainstream news outlets as a healthier alternative to sugary soda, as well as a mixer for popular cocktails.

Flavors

Sales

Sales records have never been publicly released, but market research suggests LaCroix holds a 30 percent market share in sparkling water sales in the United States, double that of its main competitor, Perrier.