![\"Lemon](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/lemon-and-te-aroha-director-richard-revell-says-the-drinks-p-3B4DPAHIABED3DPAXFHYL6EGV4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLemon and Paeroa, or L&P, is the face of New Zealand\u2019s soft drinks. But it wasn\u2019t the first \u2013 not even in its own Waikato backyard.<\/p>\n
Twenty years before the Kiwiana staple came to be, Waikato neighbours Te Aroha created Lemon and Te Aroha (L&T), which hit lips in 1887 using water from the Mount Te Aroha spring.<\/p>\n
The fizz was discontinued in the 1970s after Oasis Industries bought them and their lemony Paeroa rivals but Richard Revell revitalised the drink in 2022 under Te Aroha Mineral Water.<\/p>\n
The drink\u2019s return made Te Aroha born-and-bred Matamata-Piako District Council mayor Ash Tanner happy, saying in a perfect, cost-free world he\u2019d be keen to build a statue of the bottle rivalling the neighbour\u2019s one.<\/p>\n
He commended Revell for bringing back a beverage many hold fond memories of, saying \u201cit\u2019s an icon\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coolest thing is having a drink with the town\u2019s name on it, so it made it probably even more special as a little fellow,\u201d Tanner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably a good mixer with a bit of gin too, who knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lemon and Te Aroha director Richard Revell says the drink\u2019s popularity is growing. (Source: Waikato Times \/ Christel Yardley)<\/p>\n
Revell says the \u201cglobally unique\u201d naturally fizzy and mineral-filled spring water gives the drink a point of difference.<\/p>\n
The refusal to use artificial sweeteners or chemical filtration further sets it apart, throwing in a few light-hearted jabs at the drink-next-door.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s called Lemon and Auckland now, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Revell quipped, referencing the drink now produced in Auckland by Coca-Cola.<\/p>\n
\u201cLemon and Paeroa used to be a great product and they used to use the Paeroa mineral water [but] now they manufacture their own water so it\u2019s got no characteristics about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minerals in this water have been put together by nature. To get the carbonation it\u2019s got to come from deep down in the mountain… we\u2019ve stuck with the original natural flavours and use organic sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drink contains just three core ingredients: Te Aroha water, lemon extract and organic sugar.<\/p>\n
Business has grown \u201cfour- or five-fold\u201d since relaunching, according to Revell, who says the drink is now stocked in stores and supermarkets from Whang\u0101rei to Wellington. He has just one other full-time staff member, relying on his daughters to help with social media and contractors for additional support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got our first export order going out to the UAE next month. My thing is once they taste it that\u2019s when it\u2019ll grow exponentially because it\u2019s hard to describe a taste to somebody that hasn\u2019t tried it,\u201d Revell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve only just been allowed into [eight] Pak\u2019nSaves probably four weeks ago. We\u2019ve been in New Worlds for about one year and Four Squares for about 18 months. Obviously the first one was in Te Aroha.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Along](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/along-with-the-lemony-stuff-the-company-also-sells-still-and-5PBGUV4BYZFK3NKSLGWNKJP6OI.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Along with the lemony stuff, the company also sells still and sparkling mineral water. (Source: Waikato Times \/ Christel Yardley)<\/p>\n
Price-wise, Revell said the range varies extremely, going from under $3 at certain supermarkets to as much as $9 in some cafes.<\/p>\n
Revell was asked if he would consider alternative options such as zero sugar or alcoholic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a soft drink and soft drinks do have sugar. I know that the trend these days is to go with an artificial or natural sweetener, but it’s not what we’re about.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlcohol is not something we\u2019re pursuing, however there is a local gin place that\u2019s just started up and they have paired their gin with our sparkling water and our lemon… they\u2019re both very nice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking in the future doing a collab together more so than trying to take on mainstream RTDs so it\u2019d be like a Christmas launch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lemon and Paeroa, or L&P, is the face of New Zealand\u2019s soft drinks. But it wasn\u2019t the first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,144,9001,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-638913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-food-drink","tag-hamilton-waikato","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}