Libella® was launched in 1951 with the revolutionary idea of Heidelberg businessman, Rudolf Wild, of producing a refreshment beverage on a purely natural basis, with no artificial raw materials. From the founding of his company in the thirties, Rudolf Wild was strongly convinced that refreshment beverages must be free of artificial components.

He also rejected the common concept of artificial coloring, flavoring and sweetening and developed Libella®, a fruit juice beverage that set new standards. The attractive, grooved bottle made of brown light-resistant glass, was a highly rated and distinctive feature of Libella® in it’s early development. It was the Libella® girl pictured on the label and in advertisements that made the beverage popular in the fifties with the slogan "Libella, my big love".

Another feature in the Libella® concept was Rudolf Wild's suggestion to the breweries that for the first time they could bottle and distribute a non-alcoholic beverage. After initial reservations, the idea quickly caught on. By 1970, more than two-thirds of the German breweries produced non-alcoholic beverages. Libella® was successfully introduced not only in Germany, but also in neighboring countries such as Austria, Belgium and Luxemburg.

Currently, around 30 franchisees bottle the Libella® products for the Heidelberg-based parent company. Libella® is mostly distributed in southern Germany. Libella® is also successfully represented at international level. In Lithuania, Libella® beats Coca-Cola as the market leader. It was recently introduced in Bulgaria and Kazakhstan and plans are being made for it to be launched in more Eastern European countries.

www.libella.de