Le-Nature's

by Le-Nature's, Inc.

1992 – 2006 GONE FOREVER

Gone since 2006. The Latrobe plant went on to bottle a grocery chain's water, the trademark lapsed in 2011, and Podlucky received presidential clemency in December 2024. The tea was real; the business mostly wasn't.

Last verified Nov 7, 2026

The Latrobe, Pennsylvania bottler of iced teas and flavored waters looked like a juggernaut, reporting explosive growth every year after its 1992 launch. Most of that growth existed only on paper.

🧾 One more thingProsecutors said the company claimed nearly $300 million in revenue in a year when real sales were under $30 million. The fraud collapsed into forced bankruptcy in November 2006, and founder Gregory Podlucky drew a 20-year sentence.

Filed under: Drinks & Sodas · the ’90s

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📅 Timeline

1992The Le-Nature's brand entered commerce — trademark filings swear first use across April–June 1992 for its teas, waters and juices.
2002Global Beverage Systems renamed itself Le-Nature's, Inc., citing ten years of operation and a plan to build the brand.
2006Forced into bankruptcy November 1–2 after a Delaware court found signs of massive financial fraud; the Latrobe plant closed.
2007The plant sold out of bankruptcy in a contested auction and ended up bottling water for grocery chain Giant Eagle.
2011Founder and CEO Gregory Podlucky was sentenced in October to 20 years for fraud and tax evasion; the trademark had been cancelled that January.
2024Podlucky received presidential clemency in December.

❓ People also ask

What happened to Le-Nature's?

It collapsed in November 2006 when one of the largest frauds in western Pennsylvania history surfaced: prosecutors said the company claimed nearly $300 million in revenue in a year when real sales were under $30 million.

Were the drinks real?

Entirely — nationally distributed iced teas, flavored waters and juices bottled in Latrobe. The finances around them were largely fiction.

Did the brand ever come back?

No. The trademark was cancelled in 2011, the plant bottles store-brand water, and no product has carried the Le-Nature's name since.

🧾 Sources

Water & Wastes Digest, Name change for Global Beverage Systems (2002)
BevNET, Bankruptcy, Fraud Alleged at LeNature's (2006)
USPTO TSDR, LE NATURE'S trademark record (sworn first use 1992) (2003)
Food Processing, Biden's Record Pardons Included a Former Beverage Company CEO (2024)
Progressive Grocer, Giant Eagle's Plan to Buy Le-Nature Plant Finally Goes Through (2007)

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