‘It was finally time to start saying we’re a beverage company’

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

January 27, 2025

RANDOM LAKE – A local company in the food and beverage industry recently underwent a rebranding to demonstrate a renewed focus on its specialty.

Zach Malin, senior vice president of business development with Krier Beverage, said the company decided to rebrand from Krier Foods to “better reflect our offerings to the marketplace.”

“Krier Foods started canning food more than 100 years ago, and since the company has evolved, our sole focus is beverages,” he said.

Even though the manufacturer has been solely focused on beverages for quite some time, Malin said when Krier representatives would attend trade shows people would approach the formerly named Krier Foods employees about canning food products.

“It’s distracting, so we decided to finally embrace what we do – and we do it very well,” he said. “So it’s just a concerted focus on what we do every day.”

Though there’s “some murkiness” regarding when Krier officially made beverages its sole focus, Malin said it has been for an estimated 50 years.

“(The company made) more of an investment into beverages in the ’60s,” he said. “And then slowly, we transitioned out of food completely.”

Why now?

As a company with a more than a century-long history, Malin said the decision to rebrand was not made lightly.

“We knew we wanted to change strategic focus to the industry, but we also wanted to keep that rich heritage and legacy of the Krier name,” he said. “This (company) has been in Random Lake, Wisconsin, for a long time, and that name – Krier – is very recognizable, but it was finally time to start saying we’re a beverage company.”

The idea to rebrand was formally introduced last year as an initiative to refocus the business, but Malin said that some were concerned the legacy behind the name would be lost.

“There’s always been a little hesitation because people thought we would change the Krier name,” he said. “So even in our logo redesign, the big ‘K,’ that was very specific on why we chose that font, the styling of it – to maintain that legacy and heritage of the Krier name.”

According to Krier Beverage’s website (krierbeverage.com), the fifth-generation-owned family company was acquired by Celerant Capital – “a private equity sponsor that invests exclusively in food, beverage and enabling technologies” – in 2022.

After the acquisition was finalized, Malin said Celerant’s primary focus was to engage Krier employees “at the shop floor level.”

“If you can get employees engaged, empower them to make decisions, do their jobs well and be problem solvers, the probability of success is just that much greater,” he said. “So they’re not a typical private equity group that comes in and looks at a balance sheet. When they come in, they look at how they can support the employees and the business to help it grow. This was a really good marriage between a family business and an outside firm acquiring the company.”

Since then, Malin said Krier Beverages has grown its workforce and invested “significant” funds into its operations and employee pay scale.

“It’s been phenomenal for the business,” he said.

The ‘coolest’ rebrand

One of Krier’s most notable brands – Jolly Good Soda – recently winning the 2024 Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin competition, Malin said, helps solidify the company’s place within the beverage manufacturing industry.

“This is a huge accomplishment for the company,” he said. “More importantly, at the root of this, there are 100-plus people that come into work every day, put on their bump cap, put on their steel toe shoes and they make this product. The pride that our employees have for Jolly Good – something that they (see) every day – (being) recognized on a huge scale, they’re proud of it.”

Successes like Jolly Good, Malin said, demonstrate that Krier is committed to the beverage industry by “delivering high-quality products and services that our customers have come to expect from a beverage company.”

With the rebrand, Malin said Krier’s internal operations will not change and that the company’s “legal name” will remain Krier Foods to help their customers adjust to the transition.

“The only change will be external,” he said. “Employee shirts, signage, business cards, emails (and our) website (will change), but the legal name will remain Krier Foods so our customers have a very smooth transition. There won’t be any new accounts payable groups to send to. It’ll really (have) a minimal impact on our stakeholders – internal and external.”

For that reason, Malin said “this is a rebrand for the best reasons possible.”

“Krier is truly known for great customer service, great company culture (and is) driven by family values,” he said. “Although the (Krier) family no longer owns the business, that commitment to customers and employees hasn’t changed.”

Overall, Malin said the rebrand to Krier Beverages “better aligns our long-term goals to expand market presence, drive innovation and deliver the best value to our customers possible.”