Former President of Le-Nature's says brand generated more demand than Coke, Dannon

Dasani, Evian, Dannon.

For decades, consumers have been buying these popular beverage brands, produced by Coke, Dannon, and Dannon's parent company, Danone S.A.

In 2004, Joe Mihok, Le-Nature's President and Chief Sales Officer, was interviewed as part of the Beverage World magazine feature, The Naturals.

Mihok told Beverage World magazine's Andrea Foote, "I worked with retailers for years with Coke and Dannon products, but this was the first time that I had a retailer coming to me asking for a product in such numbers."

The former CSO was never part of the DOJ investigation into Le-Nature's.

According to Beverage Industry, Dasani and Evian reached total sales of $271,154,000 and $75,676,050, respectively, in 2004. Dannon's other beverage brands had total sales of $107,158,000.

Federal prosecutors claim Le-Nature's 2004 sales did not exceed $15 million. But if that were true, how could Mihok make this statement? How could the retail demand for Le-Nature's products be greater than brands selling over $450 million collectively, while themselves not reaching more than $15 million?

If one is to believe federal prosecutors' claims, why was Mihok never indicted? Certainly his comments would amount to gross public misrepresentations of Le-Nature's financial performance.