Rooted in health niche, Cricket Natural Beverages hops into the mainstream

Five years ago, Potomac, Md., resident and Cricket Natural Beverages CEO Mary Heron and her husband were looking for a healthier alternative to the diet soft drinks they had become addicted to. When they came up empty-handed, they created Cricket Cola, now Cricket Natural Beverages.

“We came up with it, my husband and I, when we were Diet Coke addicts and we literally had stopped drinking it because we knew it wasn’t good for us,” Heron said. “It wasn’t in keeping with the healthier lifestyle we aspire to have. We aren’t diehard health fanatics, but we work out and try to stay healthy and in shape.”

Heron said that she missed the “fun mouth feel” of a carbonated beverage and the “nice caffeine lift” from Diet Coke. “I decided along with my husband, who is co-founder of the Balance nutrition bar, to work up a formula for a healthier carbonated soft drink,” she said. “We started with cola and diet cola then expanded to pomegranate raspberry, mandarin, and we’re introducing white peach at the end of April.”

According to Heron, Cricket doesn’t pitch its brand to diehard Coke or Pepsi drinkers. “We’re more for the people who already in their own mind have made the decision to look for something healthier and better for them,” she said. “We serve the consumer who goes up and down the aisles looking for that ‘better for you’ product.”

Heron said that Cricket is like “training wheels for people trying to drink green tea.”

Before Heron worked with Cricket she was the face of the former D.C. men’s and women’s clothing landmark Raleigh’s. Before going back to work, Heron was a stay-at-home mom for three children. She grew up in southwestern Connecticut and then attended a now-closed all-girls school in D.C. She dated her husband, who attended the University of North Carolina, and decided to stay in the area.

Heron’s advice to young D.C. entrepreneurs is to “follow your dreams and go for it.”

“It’s very hard being an entrepreneur. You have to be prepared to work long hours; just the other night I was working on my laptop while watching TV at 9 or 10 p.m.,” she said. “Get advice from other people who’ve been there, see if you can make the dream come true.”

Heron is pleased Cricket is based in D.C. “I would say that D.C. has a broad group of people from all different parts of the country and world. It’s very cosmopolitan and sophisticated in interests and diverse in tastes,” she said. “Putting Cricket in Washingon was a great play because people are more responsive to different types of beverages and foods. It’s a great place to set down roots and put out a new type of fun product.”

According to Heron, the healthy foods phenomenon came to the East Coast about five years after it hit the West Coast. “It really morphed from just health-conscious customers to hitting trendsetters and those looking for something hip and cool,” she said. “It has a more mainstream appeal now. More people know Cricket is better for them.”

Cricket just went all-natural in the fall and is now carried in the grocery store chain Whole Foods. Cricket is also sold in Georgetown at Dean & Deluca and at various Potbelly sandwich locations across the area.

Although prices vary depending on where you buy it, Cricket is usually sold for $1.69 per bottle or $5.99 for a four-pack.