Poppi’s massive growth over the last few years has come with loyal fans, viral moments, online controversies and rumors of a billion-dollar exit. Yet founder, Allison Ellsworth, continues to push ahead with innovations as a new modern soda brand. With $500+ million in sales in 2024, Poppi is leading the category and gaining market share even amongst traditional soda brands. Known for its take on classic flavors with low-calorie, low-sugar and prebiotic benefits paired with its colorful branding and must-watch marketing, Poppi has become hard to ignore.
New Formula and Flavor
Ellsworth is on her third reformulation of Poppi striving to make improvements in function and taste. “The new formula is what everyone knows and loves. We wanted to add more prebiotic fiber benefits in addition to the agave inulin. We have spent over 15 months testing and researching the best fiber options and cassava root fiber came back the winner when it comes to taste and function,” she shared. The blend will include two prebiotic fibers in the form of cassava root fiber and agave inulin to provide three grams of fiber per can, Ellsworth also shared Poppi conducted extensive R&D over the last 15 months, which was verified by an accredited third-party lab, prior to launching this product.
Although Poppi has prebiotic benefits, Ellsworth doesn’t want consumers to gravitate towards Poppi just for that but rather as a healthier soda alternative, “Our message we have always had is to give people the freedom to love soda again with lower calories and sugar. While the prebiotic fiber is a bonus it is not our main focus. You drink Poppi because you want a better way to enjoy soda, not to consume your daily fiber needs,” she said. In addition to the new formula, Poppi is also introducing a new flavor named “Alpine Blast” which is a take on classic citrus soda with added 55 mg of caffeine from green tea. Ellsworth added that consumers drink soda for energy sometimes and this new addition will give them that energy boost with fewer calories and sugar.
Leading The Way For Modern Soda
Part of Poppi’s growth is attributed to the rise of the new modern soda set in grocery stores. As the category has grown, retailers have put a greater emphasis on different touch points like the end caps and at the register to include better-for-you sodas like Poppi. “When we first started Poppi, they didn’t know where to put us because what do you do with this new prebiotic soda? It’s a functional pop. It’s a whole new category. We’re not traditional soda. Our price points are also different. At first, retailers were putting us in the enhanced water set and next to Gatorade or LaCroix. We were never in the cold cases like kombucha because we are shelf-stable. Over the last five years, we’ve worked with our buyers and retailers to define this whole new category. It’s what we call the modern soda set. It’s a dash destination within the store for this whole new category. So now our consumers will see us on a Super Bowl ad then they’ll see a TikTok ad and then they’re walking in the store and there’s this huge eight-foot section of top-to-bottom Poppi. It has been such a game changer with big retailers like the Walmarts, the Krogers and the Targets of the world. At Walmart, we currently have five touch points across the store.” she explained.
In addition to expanding across retail, Poppi has elevated its partnerships such as the official cup sponsor of American Idol, a Target apparel collaboration and partnering with Inter Miami CF to provide Poppi for their fans. Returning to the Super Bowl for a second year featuring top creators Alix Earle, Jake Shane and Rob Rausch; YouGov rated Poppi’s commercial number one in Advertiser Impact Score & Buzz, and number two in Ad Awareness and Consideration.
All of this exposure has helped Poppi garner 38% of household awareness and 19% of household penetration which is up 10% from last year. With this rapid growth rumors of an acquisition have sparked. When asked about the potential for PepsiCo to acquire Poppi for $1.5 Billion, Ellsworth did not provide comment.
Navigating Controversies
One of the more recent controversies Poppi has found itself in has been coined as “Vending Machine Gate.” During the week of the Super Bowl Poppi loaned out vending machines full of Poppi to small and large creators to share on their social media platforms. However, individuals on social media found it to be excessive given the current financial climate and took the comments calling out Poppi for being out of touch. ”It was a major learning lesson for the brand and for me as a founder. I took all the feedback from our community and will learn from it going forward. We also had given vending machines and pallets to first responders fighting the fires, families who had lost their homes, and other community centers but it was never shared on social media,” Ellsworth explained. She also shared that Poppi is involved with many charitable initiatives but the brand does not focus on sharing on social media as it does with its influencers. Ellsworth does plan on trying to find ways to include more of the Poppi community in its charitable contributions moving forward.
As far as the class action lawsuit filed in May 2024 against Poppi, the brand issued an official statement that it has been settled, “The class action suit filed against Poppi in May 2024 has been settled. Poppi acknowledges no fault, liability, or wrongdoing, and instead, we are focused on bringing consumers the innovation they expect from the brand they love. We’re excited to move forward and continue our passion to modernize soda for the next generation.” Ellsworth’s newest formulation began months prior to the lawsuit even began. She emphasized that Poppi should be enjoyed as a healthier soda alternative rather than a source of fiber.
The last year for Poppi came with major growth milestones amongst challenges and controversies but Ellsworth is excited for the future of what’s to come, “The modern soda set category is set to hit close to $2 Billion by end of this year. I love seeing the category grow and new brands entering the space as it fuels recognition and growth for all of us. At Poppi we are continuing to innovate to give our community what they love and want.”
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