Jolly Good Soda voted best thing manufactured in Wisconsin

Voting is complete on Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce’s Best thing made in Wisconsin contest, and this year’s winner is Jolly Good Soda made in Sheboygan County.

The contest starts with nominations which brought more than 130 products into the competition, representing dozens of manufacturing sub-sectors from around the state. After an initial popular vote round and a bracket-style tournament known as “Manufacturing Madness,” four finalists were left to compete to take home the Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin trophy.

In last year’s contest, Jolly Good made it to one round shy of the final four shoot out.

Jolly Good is a product of Krier Manufacturing in Random Lake, located in southwestern Sheboygan County. The company started the brand Jolly Good in 1970 and produced up to 50 different flavors of soda up to 2007 when it ceased production on the soda, due to pressure in sales brought on by larger brands such as Pepsi and Coke.

After a resurgence of interest in Jolly Good surfaced several years later, Krier Foods decided to bring back it’s eight most popular flavors in 2015. A soft launch showed demand was there and Jolly Good is now found in 5 different grocery store chains in southeastern Wisconsin.