“You’re happy but you have anxiety,” said Allison Ellsworth, reflecting with Fortune on PepsiCo’s $1.95 billion acquisition of the neon-canned prebiotic soda she once brewed at home. The comment summed up her mixed emotions about selling the brand.
Poppi vaulted from a farmers market stand to an industry disruptor in less than a decade, generating more than $500 million in revenue last year and attracting celebrity investors eager to cash in on the gut-health boom.
Ellsworth began mixing apple cider vinegar, fruit, and sparkling water in 2015 to ease her stomach troubles. Two years later, she and her husband, Stephen Ellsworth, sold the concoction at farmers markets in Austin, Texas.
Don’t Miss:
By 2018, the pair pitched the drink—then called Mother Beverage—on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” landing a $400,000 check from investor Rohan Oza. The rebrand to Poppi followed in 2020 with bold neon cans and catchy TikTok campaigns.
That social approach paid off. Poppi now sits in 36,000 stores and 120 national retailers such as Target (NYSE: TGT), Whole Foods, and Costco (NASDAQ: COST). Revenue surpassed $500 million last year as the company’s Instagram and TikTok community swelled to about 1.2 million followers.
Each 12‑ounce can carries 3 grams of fiber and 5 grams of sugar, according to Poppi. That places the soda between traditional colas and kombucha. Celebrities such as Post Malone and Olivia Munn back the brand.
Trending: This AI-Powered Trading Platform Has 5,000+ Users, 27 Pending Patents, and a $43.97M Valuation — You Can Become an Investor for Just $500.25
PepsiCo’s purchase also carries an earn‑out pegged to future sales goals. “There were places we couldn’t get in before, like sports arenas and certain fast casual restaurants … Now we have a Ferrari underneath us for distribution,” Ellsworth told Fortune earlier this year.
The acquisition also gives PepsiCo a direct stake in the surging prebiotic segment, which saw U.S. retail sales jump from $33 million in January 2022 to $777 million this past January.
Success has invited scrutiny. Poppi’s parent, VNGR Beverage, agreed in March to an $8.9 million settlement that aims to end claims the soda exaggerated gut benefits. A judge granted preliminary approval, and a final approval hearing is scheduled for November, according to ClaimDepot. The agreement, which requires clearer labels, allows Poppi to deny wrongdoing.
