DALLAS – Don’t call it sparkling water, sugary lemonade or a “Woo-Woo Wellness” tonic. Poppi from Dallas, founded by the married couple Stephen and Allison Ellsworth, defies categorization on the grocery shelves, from which the fizzy drink has been flying since March 2020.
The crunchy, lightly carbonated canned drinks are fortified with apple cider vinegar, fruit juices, organic cane sugar, and stevia, all of which are blended into nostalgic soda-inspired flavors in fun retro cans that still feel grown up.
Many of the flavors are reminiscent of already popular drinks: Strawberry Lemon tastes like summer lemonade; Ginger Lime is reminiscent of Sprite; Orange has “Fanta vibes,” says Allison; and grapefruit can easily replace your fresca. Then there is the newer Classics line Root Beer, Classic Cola and Doc Pop, an ode to Dr. Pepper.
“Maybe I would have spent more time [formulating the flavor] about that, ”Allison says of Doc Pop. “Since I’m from Texas, that was important.”
Allison still creates all of the flavors himself, although Poppi has grown from farmers markets in Dallas to Target stores across the country. The Ellsworths began marketing their preparations as mother drinks in glass soda bottles in 2016. The line was soon taken over by Whole Foods.
The Ellsworths both worked in the oil and gas industries, but left their jobs to get into business and open a manufacturing facility in Dallas. “It was the American dream of ‘Screw it, let’s go for it,'” says Allison. And they wanted to grow more.
In 2018, the couple showcased their product in ABC’s “Shark Tank”, where Bai’s “beverage wharf” Rohan Oza and Vita Coco decided to invest $ 400,000 in their business in exchange for a 25% stake.
“Oza didn’t have many Shark Tank brands, so we got a lot of his time and focus,” says Allison. “He really hated our branding as a mother. And we couldn’t brand it. ”So they worked together to rename Mother Poppi, a game about lemonade, with happy and fun graphic cans.
They should be back on the market as Poppi in grocery stores in March 2020 as the pandemic closings began. “It was right when COVID hit,” says Allison. “But luckily, people were looking for healthier products. Health was in the foreground. We saw a lot of growth. “
Now you can find Poppi at Target, Whole Foods, Sprouts, Publix, HEB, Kroger, Safeway and 7-Eleven. They sell tens of millions of cans annually and have added manufacturing facilities across the country.
And while Poppi is a specialty drink, Allison says, “We see our biggest competition as Big Soda.”
That may sound too ambitious, but market trends point to growth in health-conscious beverages. The carbonated soft drinks market has been difficult to enter in the past as it is dominated in the US by large multinational companies such as The Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper. However, in recent years, sugary soda sales have been sluggish as consumers seek alternative beverages with higher nutritional value, less sugar, and more mature flavors, according to reports from Grand View Research and Beverage Industry. This has made room for more “Better for you” drinks, such as functional drinks from smaller companies like Poppi.
And health is still the key to the brand, which is good for business strategy, but also for Allison personally. When she started experimenting in 2016, she suffered from health problems such as gas and fatigue. She started taking apple cider vinegar on a regular basis. “I was shocked how it made me feel, but I literally couldn’t sense the taste,” she says.
Apple cider vinegar, a twice fermented apple juice, has been used as a wellness tonic for thousands of years. It is often touted as a weight loss aid, reflux medication, and colon health promoter because of its natural prebiotics, acetic acid, and antioxidants, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
When Allison first started experimenting with ACV, she mixed it with carbonated water and juices in her own kitchen to make full-bodied sodas with much less sugar.
Now she spends months working in a laboratory developing the latest flavors. (On “Shark Tank”, “Bethany Frankel yelled at me, ‘Get out of the kitchen!’” Says Allison.)
Current fruity flavors are Ginger Lime, Strawberry Lemon, Watermelon, Orange, Raspberry Rose, Peach Mango and Blueberry. They are meant to be drunk alone, but can also be used as a cocktail mixer.
The new soda-inspired line from Classics contains green tea extract for caffeine and agave inulin for a thicker mouthfeel. “We wanted it to taste like the classic soda and the inulin to create a thicker liquid,” says Allison.
“We like traditional, nostalgic flavors that people are used to,” she adds. “Poppi is for the normal consumer who just wants something better for you.”
Stephen and Allison Ellsworth pose for a portrait in Poppi’s Dallas office on July 1. Poppi is a Dallas-based probiotic beverage company that started in local farmers markets and is now growing across the country.
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