The rise of popular soda brand Poppi shows how branding, timing, and retail strategy turned a “better-for-you” soda into the kind of outcome most founders dream of.
By now, you’ve probably started to notice Poppi without really trying – the pastel-colored, fruit-stamped cans lined up at the store, easy to spot from just a few steps away. It’s the kind of drink people describe as “soda, but better,” and one that raises a natural question: how did Poppi become so popular?
The answer starts well before it showed up on store shelves. Back in 2016, Allison and Stephen Ellsworth had no intention to build a national soda brand. They were working out of their kitchen, testing a sparkling drink that mixed familiar soda cues with ingredients they believed fit a “better-for-you” routine.
That year marked the start of Poppi’s decade-long grind, back when the product was first sold under the name Mother Beverage.
How did Poppi become so popular?
The earliest traction came slowly and in person. The Ellsworths sold their homemade recipes at local markets and relied on what every early consumer brand lives on: strangers willing to taste, react, and come back.
The new soda alternative drew attention, but the real lesson was in how people responded. While its benefits were important, it also had to feel like something you’d proudly hold and share. In the end, the Ellsworths had to frame it so shoppers could grasp it instantly, without explanation.
In 2018, the business reached a broader audience through Shark Tank. On the show, they accepted a $400,000 investment from guest shark Rohan Oza in exchange for a 25% stake. And while that money mattered, so did the operational influence that came with it.
Oza’s reputation came from building consumer brands with mass appeal, and his involvement put new pressure on the soda startup’s identity. The product needed to land fast in a customer’s mind, less like a niche health item and more like a modern soda brand.
The rebrand that helped Poppi stand out on the shelves
That shift became visible in 2020, when Mother Beverage rebranded into its current and most popular form as Poppi. Industry coverage at the time described a redesign that leaned into bright cans and a friendlier, more playful presentation.
Poppi’s expansion, however, also collided with a difficult moment in retail. Its national launch date landed on March 3, 2020, just as the pandemic began disrupting the usual playbook for beverage growth.
Within weeks, sampling programs, events, and in-person discovery – all of which are key drivers of early customers and repeat purchases – became difficult to execute at scale.
With fewer physical ways to introduce the product, the marketing effort leaned more heavily on digital channels and founder-led storytelling.
How Poppi became one of the fastest-growing soda brands
Allison Ellsworth appeared more publicly as the face of the brand, and Poppi’s popularity grew in the places where attention was still concentrated: social media, online ordering, and the culture of recommendation.
By 2025, Poppi sat inside a broader wave of interest in functional and “better-for-you” beverages, with large incumbents closely watching the category expand.
Then came the deal most founders can only dream of. On March 17, 2025, PepsiCo announced that it had agreed to acquire Poppi for $1.95 billion, a figure it said included $300 million in anticipated cash tax benefits and a performance-based earnout tied to post-closing results.
On May 19, 2025, PepsiCo announced the transaction had closed, reiterating those terms.
From the outside, the deal looked like an overnight leap from trend to takeover. But in reality, Poppi’s rise was the result of a much longer build – from a 2016 kitchen experiment to a 2018 breakout on television, a 2020 rebrand designed for shelf appeal, and a 2025 deal valued the popular soda brand in the billions.
