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National Beverage facts for kids

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For the concept of a national drink, see List of national drinks.
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National Beverage Corp.
Public
Traded as
  • NASDAQ: FIZZ
  • S&P 600 component
Industry Beverages (nonalcoholic)
Founded Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States (1985; 40 years ago (1985))
Headquarters Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.
Key people
 Nick A. Caporella, Chairman & CEO
Products Soft drinks
Revenue Increase US$1,172.9 million (2023)
Increase $142.2 million (2023)
12.1% profit margin
Owner Nick A. Caporella (77%)
Number of employees
 Increase 1,640 (April 27, 2019)
Subsidiaries
  • Big Shot Beverage Co.
  • Everfresh Beverages, Inc.
  • Faygo Beverages, Inc.
  • LaCROIX Beverages, Inc.
  • National Retail Brands, Inc.
  • Shasta Beverages, Inc.

National Beverage Corp. is an American company that makes and sells many popular drinks. It is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They focus on flavored soft drinks. Some of their most famous brands are La Croix, Shasta, and Faygo.

How It Started

National Beverage Corp. began in 1985. A person named Nick A. Caporella started it. He wanted to protect another company, Burnup & Sims Inc., from being taken over. So, he traded shares between the two companies. This helped reduce the other company's ownership.

With this new company, Caporella needed a business for it. He bought Shasta Beverages in 1985. He paid $40 million in cash and some Burnup & Sims shares. To make National a bigger player, Caporella also bought Faygo. Faygo was a popular soft drink maker in the Midwest.

National Beverage then had 12 bottling plants. Its smaller companies started bottling drinks for store brands. These are drinks sold under a store's own name.

Growing the Company

In 1991, National Beverage became a public company. This means its shares could be bought and sold by anyone. In the early 1990s, the company bought Spree. This was an all-natural, fizzy soft drink. They also acquired Big Shot, a regional soft drink line.

In 1992, the US Navy hired National Beverage. They made "Sea," which was the Navy's own store brand drink. In the mid-1990s, National Beverage added more companies. They bought Everfresh Beverages Inc., which made juices. They also acquired WinterBrook Corp. This company made sparkling and still water. WinterBrook brought three new brands: Cascadia, WinterBrook Clear, and LaCroix. By the end of the 1990s, National bought Home Juice Company. This company made Home Juice and Mr. Pure brands.

New Drinks and Focus

In the early 2000s, National bought Beverage Canners International Inc. This company owned the Ritz and Crystal Bay soft drinks and sparkling waters. In 2002, National Beverage changed its plan. They decided to focus on bottling their own brands. They stopped bottling drinks for other companies.

National started making new drinks for special markets in 2003. They launched Shasta Shortz, a soda made for kids. That same year, Fruitika, a line of fruit nectars, came out. In 2004, Diet Shasta started using Splenda. This is a no-calorie sweetener.

National also launched new energy drinks. The first was Rip It, a general energy drink. Then came Chic, an energy drink for women. Freek was made for teenagers and young adults. National even tried a coffee-based energy drink called Triple Hit.

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National Beverage Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.