Business Description

Recently commemorating its 40 th anniversary, National Beverage Corp. innovatively refreshes America with a distinctive portfolio of sparkling waters, juices, energy drinks and, to a lesser extent, carbonated soft drinks. We believe our creative product designs, innovative packaging and imaginative flavors, along with our corporate culture and philosophy, make National Beverage unique as a stand-alone entity in the beverage industry. Points of differentiation include the following: Healthy Transformation – We focus on developing and delighting consumers with healthier beverages in response to the global shift in consumer buying habits and lifestyles. We believe our portfolio targets the preferences of a diverse mix of consumers including ‘crossover consumers’ – a growing group desiring healthier alternatives to artificially sweetened or high-calorie beverages. Creative Innovations – Building on a rich tradition of flavor and brand innovation with more than a 135-year history of development with iconic brands such as Shasta® and Faygo®, we have extended our flavor and essence leadership and technical expertise to the sparkling water category. Unique flavors and our naturally-essenced beverages are developed and tested in-house and made commercially available after extensive concept and sensory evaluation. We believe our variety of distinctive flavors provides us with a competitive advantage with today’s consumers who demand variety and refreshing beverage alternatives. Innovation Ethic – We believe that innovative marketing, packaging and consumer engagement is more effective in today’s marketplace than traditional higher-cost national advertising. In addition to our cost-effective social media platforms, we utilize regionally-focused marketing programs and in-store “brand ambassadors” to interact with and obtain feedback from our consumers. We also believe the design of our packages and the overall optical effect of their placement on the shelf (“shelf marketing”) has become more important as millennials and younger generations become increasingly influential consumers and are now influencing baby boomers and older generations. Market Dynamics – In a beverage industry dominated by the “cola giants”, we pride ourselves on being able to respond faster and more creatively to consumer trends than competitors burdened by legacy production and distribution complexity and costs. The ability to identify consumer trends and create new market-leading concepts defines our new product development model. Speed to market with the appropriate concept, unique flavor creation and trend forward ‘better-for-you’ ingredients continues to be our goal. Internal development teams are responsible for concept creation, packaging and design, which allow for rapid ‘go to market’ timing and reduced development costs. We strive to provide retailers and consumers with the most innovative flavors and packaging in the industry. Packaging for both LaCroix Strawberry Peach and LaCroix Sunshine were newly honored as top recipients of the International Davey Awards for creativity, joining LaCroix Mojito, Zero-Sugar Faygo and Rip It as recent honorees. 1 Table of Contents Presently, our primary market focus is the United States. Certain of our products are also distributed on a limited basis in other countries and options to expand distribution to other regions are being pursued. National Beverage Corp. is incorporated in Delaware and began trading as a public company on the NASDAQ Stock Market in 1991. In this report, the terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “Company” and “National Beverage” mean National Beverage Corp. and its subsidiaries unless indicated otherwise. BRANDS Our brands primarly consist of beverages geared to the active and health-conscious consumer (“Power+ Brands”) including sparkling waters, energy drinks and juices. Our portfolio of Power+ Brands includes LaCroix® sparkling waters; Clear Fruit® non-carbonated water beverages enhanced with fruit flavor; Rip It® energy drinks and shots; and Everfresh®, Everfresh Premier Varietals™ and Mr. Pure® 100% juice and juice-based products. Additionally, we produce and distribute carbonated soft drinks (“CSDs”) including Shasta® and Faygo®, iconic brands whose consumer loyalty spans more than 100 years. POWER+ BRANDS – LaCroix LaCroix Sparkling Water, our most significant brand, has uniquely redefined the sparkling water category that has become a favored alternative to traditional carbonated soda.…