In a bit of foreshadowing, Naked Juice dropped the Hansen name after buying the company.

Recently, Hansen Natural Corp., now in Corona, did the same. The new name is Monster Beverage Corp. and the stock ticker symbol is MNST. It previously had been HANS. Even the website has changed to monsterbevcorp.com. (It still maintains hansens.com.)

Shareholders approved the corporate name change along with a two-for-one stock split.

The name change from the wholesome image Hansen to extreme sports sponsor Monster seems a bit like when 50s singer Pat Boone made a heavy metal album. But as beverage industry website Bevnet.com noted, Considering that the energy drink business comprises about 95% of the companys revenue, we dont think theres much of a shocker here.

Monster markets and distributes Monster Energy drinks, Monster Rehab noncarbonated rehydration drinks, Hansens natural sodas and juices, Huberts lemonades, PRE probiotic drinks, Peace Tea, Worx Energy shots, Blue Sky beverages and Junior Juice beverages.

According to the company website, Hubert Hansen and his three sons were the go-to guys for fresh juice in Southern California. The sodas have always been free of preservatives, caffeine, sodium, artificial flavors and colors. In 2008 we made a radical shift (how California of us!) and said goodbye to high fructose corn syrup and hello to real cane sugar.

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