Poppi

Poppi was launched in 2018 by Allison Ellsworth as a better-for-you sparkling soda built around apple cider vinegar, real fruit juice, and prebiotics. The brand started at farmers markets and local retailers, where its low-sugar, gut-friendly formula quickly stood out in a crowded soft-drink aisle. From that early traction, Poppi expanded into more than 120 retail locations and built a passionate social-media following that turned flavored sparkling sodas into a cultural moment.

The business model is rooted in convenience and repeat purchase. Poppi sells through grocery and specialty retail, e-commerce, and direct-to-consumer channels, with a flavor lineup designed to replace conventional soda without sacrificing taste. The founders faced the classic consumer-brand challenge: scaling a product whose early growth relied on word-of-mouth while keeping the formula consistent and the brand identity intact.

On How I Built This, Allison Ellsworth walked through that journey—from experimenting with vinegar-forward recipes at home to building a packaged-goods brand that eventually caught the attention of PepsiCo. In 2025, PepsiCo acquired Poppi, giving the company access to national distribution while leaving its core identity as a low-sugar, prebiotic-focused sparkling soda largely intact.

Today, Poppi sits inside one of the world's largest beverage portfolios, but it still markets itself as a founders' brand with a simple premise: sparkling soda that tastes good and does something a little better for you.