10 Things You Didn't Know About Poppi Soda

With so many popular sodas out there, people tend to be loyal to certain brands or flavors. For example, the classic cola definitely ranks supreme in the soda world. The one thing about most mainstream sodas, however, is they usually contain a lot of sugar. Enter Poppi – a brand that makes low-sugar soda with many different flavors, including fan-favorites, like cola. With many ingredients that make it unique, Poppi has definitely turned some heads. Whether you've seen the brightly-colored cans on the shelves of grocery stores, at your favorite deli, or in the hands of your favorite influencers and celebrities, there's a lot more to this soda brand than you might think.

The Poppi brand has risen in popularity over the past couple of years, partly because of its low-sugar soda flavors, and partly because it has many other interesting components that draw people in. In this article, we will be sharing everything you need to know about Poppi. From how it first started, to how it quickly grew over the span of a few years, to many quirky details in between — we've got it all covered.

Allison Ellsworth, founder of Poppi, used to work in oil and gas research, which involved a lot of travel and minimal focus on her health. As she noticed her body wasn't functioning as well as it could be, Ellsworth started taking daily shots of apple cider vinegar. She hated the taste of drinking the vinegar straight, but she noticed that a lot of the unwanted health symptoms she was experiencing were indeed subsiding. Ellsworth shared that drinking apple cider vinegar helped her lose weight, but the bad taste wasn't the only issue. She also discovered that drinking apple cider vinegar straight could be harsh on the stomach and esophagus, potentially causing other health issues.

This led her to try to make a beverage that made drinking apple cider vinegar more pleasant, and thus her famous soda was born. Today, every can of Poppi contains unfiltered apple cider vinegar, which still contains live bacteria that can be good for the gut, making it preferable over the filtered version. Vinegar that is unfiltered is also referred to as "vinegar with mother," which leads us to the next fact on our list — Poppi's original name.

You've probably seen cans of Poppi all over the shelves of grocery and convenience stores — but do you remember ever seeing a drink branded as Mother Beverage? From the years of 2015 to 2020, that's what Poppi was called. Beyond founder Allison Ellsworth's goal to make the act of drinking apple cider vinegar more enjoyable, she also wanted to make it healthier to drink soda. Having always loved soda, she drank it every single day, but wasn't too big of a fan of how she felt after. Ellsworth began making concoctions of apple cider vinegar, fruit juices, prebiotics, and sparkling water, and invented her own version of soda — right in her kitchen. Once she had created her perfect product, Whole Foods actually picked it up and started selling it in stores. 

The original brand name stemmed from a few factors. As we mentioned before, unfiltered vinegar is sometimes also referred to as "vinegar with mother." Along with that, Ellsworth was a mother when she started her business, and soon after had a second child on the way. She was also incredibly focused on her own health and well-being, as a woman and mother, and her target audience became other mothers in the same situation. Ultimately, Mother Beverage was a solution for soda lovers to find a healthier alternative.

Many great food products have come from the TV show "Shark Tank," including Poppi. Still in the era of Mother Beverage, founder Allison Ellsworth brought her product to the Sharks, accompanied by her husband, who is a co-founder of the company. They began their pitch by giving each Shark a shot of apple cider vinegar, which was met with hilarious reactions — mostly because they were grossed out by the taste. Then, they offered the Sharks different samples of their current flavors at the time: lime ginger, raspberry rose, pineapple turmeric, and blueberry sage.

The Sharks are notoriously tough, and Mark Cuban in particular did not seem fond of how the drink tasted. When he took his first sip of one of the flavors, he grimaced, and repeatedly said "no" while placing the lid back on the drink. The other Sharks, however, didn't seem to mind it, and all agreed that it was much better than drinking the apple cider vinegar by itself.

Once the Ellsworths shared the details of how the business was currently running, the retail price, and the cost of making the product, the Sharks shared some concerns, as they didn't think the company had the right competitive edge for success. Ultimately, most of the Sharks were not interested in becoming partners with the company, except for Rohan Oza, who made an offer. Oza offered $400,000 for a 25% stake, and the Ellsworths happily accepted.

When most people think of the world "soda," they think of all of the unhealthy things that are usually found in the ingredients. One of the main drawbacks of consuming regular soda is the amount of sugar, and therefore calories, in each can. Mountain Dew, for example, has the highest amount of sugar of all of sodas, with 46 grams of added sugar per 12-ounce can, along with 170 calories. The American Heart Association recommends that people don't consume more than an average of 30 grams of added sugar per day.

With Poppi, there's no need to worry about sugar or calorie intake. Each can has 25 calories or less, and most of those calories come from fiber, which has its own benefits, unlike sugar. The fiber is added into the drink through ingredients like cassava root and agave inulin. As for the sugar content, each 12-ounce Poppi can has between 2 to 5 grams of added sugar, far less than other soda brands. Although some brands sell diet or sugar-free sodas, which lowers the calorie intake immensely, the taste is never quite the same when compared to the original. Poppi is manufactured to taste great in its low-sugar, low-calorie form — and people clearly love it.

Not many brands have multiple A-list celebrities endorsing its product. For Poppi, however, that's not the case. Its millions of loyal fans include celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Billie Eilish, Kylie Jenner, Olivia Munn, Paris Hilton, and Hailey Bieber. In a TikTok video, Billie Eilish can be seen talking about how much she loves Poppi, especially because it's a low-sugar drink that also offers prebiotics. She seems incredibly casual in the video, and her statement doesn't come off as a scripted ploy. Instead, it is a genuine endorsement that Billie has shared about a brand she enjoys.

Jennifer Lopez, on the other hand, posted a video where she is dancing joyfully while holding a Poppi soda on the beach — an endorsement that is authentic to Lopez. Olivia Munn's support is more official, as she actually became an investor in the company. On "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Munn shared that she came across Poppi at a friend's house. As an avid soda drinker, she was shocked at how delicious the soda tasted while also being low in calories and sugar. After that experience, she decided to invest in the company, becoming a part of its rise to stardom.

There are many soda brands that completely dominate the soda market, like Coke, Pepsi, and Sprite. These are the brands that you will generally see not only in grocery stores, but also in fast food restaurants, movie theaters, and on airplanes. While many people love these brands, there aren't that many flavors to choose from. If we take Coca-Cola, for example, there is the original flavor, which is available in a zero sugar and diet version. Technically, however, that's still the same flavor. Then, there are only about three to four other flavor variations to choose from, depending on what's on the market — sometimes there are limited edition flavors, or special releases.

The comparison isn't even close with Poppi, which has about 16 flavors available. There are some classic options that compete directly with the heavy hitting soda brands, like classic cola, root beer, orange, and cream soda. There are also more unique flavors, like cranberry fizz, strawberry lemon, raspberry rose, and watermelon. All of these flavors are low sugar, so there's no need to have a diet or zero-sugar version. If you're not sure which to try for yourself, check out our ranking of Poppi Soda flavors to see which ones came out on top.

Poppi brands itself as a prebiotic soda. Prebiotics are what feeds probiotics, which are the good bacteria that live in the gut. Prebiotics come from fiber, and in Poppi's case, the fiber in the soda mainly comes from agave inulin, as well as the occasional other source, like cassava root. Agave inulin is a natural sweetener found in the agave tequilana plant. Most Poppi sodas have between 2 to 3 grams of dietary fiber, which many people may think is positive, as it can make it easy to get more fiber and prebiotics throughout the day with a tasty drink. For others, however, it's not so positive.

The type of fiber in Poppi is indigestible, so it needs to be broken down in the body through a process called fermentation. Now, fermentation isn't a negative thing — it's something the body has to do in order to get the positive benefits from the fiber. However, as this happens, it creates a lot of gas in the digestive system. In turn, you're left with some not-so-optimal side effects, like an influx in flatulence, gas pains, and possibly stomach cramping if you have a more sensitive system.

The caveat here, however, is that the fiber and prebiotics in the drink potentially offer some great benefits, like aiding with a healthier gut microbiome, controlling blood sugar, supporting the immune system, and more. If you're okay with a bit of flatulence, it might just be worth it.

With so many different ways for companies to market their products, the possibilities seem endless. One of the newer, and possibly most effective ways to market, is through TikTok. Sometimes, this can happen accidentally through word of mouth, and knowing how fast trends can spread on the app, businesses have blown up overnight without even putting in much effort. On the other hand, there are some brands that become popular on the app by making their own videos and participating in trending videos — bringing in a whole new clientele they didn't have before.

For Poppi, its success on TikTok was a mix of both. When Allison Ellsworth wanted to try promoting the brand on TikTok, she realized she didn't want to take away the marketing budget from other avenues. She simply made a video sharing her story of creating the company, and when she woke up, she had millions of views and $100,000 worth of sales from Amazon. The post wasn't curated to be a perfect ad — it was an organic video that Ellsworth made on a whim. Now, Poppi puts more of its money into marketing on TikTok, and posts multiple videos per day. It also collaborates with influencers, who share their love of the brand through word of mouth.

It's not uncommon for brands to send influencers free products, creative gifts, or PR packages. If you scrolled along the TikTok "for you page" in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, you may have seen a large amount of influencers sharing a special delivery received from Poppi. This delivery was a full-sized, bright pink Poppi-branded vending machine, along with hundreds of Poppi sodas to fill it with. It wasn't your typical vending machine either; it had a large LED touch screen in the front, allowing users to scroll through all of the possible flavors.

This vending machine delivery wasn't positively received by viewers, however. After an onslaught of influencers sharing their special gift from the company, backlash quickly ensued. Many TikTok users commented on the fact that this lavish gift was sent to people who could easily afford something like this for themselves, arguing that the company could have donated the vending machines and sodas to people who would appreciate it more, like hospital workers, teachers, or other people who work tirelessly in jobs that don't offer the same types of perks. Founder Allison Ellsworth did respond to the backlash in a TikTok video, commenting that the company will be sharing more with the community moving forward.

As of publication, there is an active lawsuit against Poppi. Kristen Cobbs, a former customer, is suing Poppi for its claims that it is a "gut-healthy" soda. Cobbs' suit, which amounts to over $5 million, states that there isn't enough prebiotic fiber in the Poppi sodas to actually give benefits to the customers. The lawsuit even claims that a customer would need to drink more than four Poppi sodas per day to reap any sort of "gut-healthy" benefits.

Poppi has shared that it will defend these allegations, and the company doesn't believe there is any true foundation to these claims. However, NBC News reported that some Poppi cans in stores and on Amazon no longer feature any of the slogans that have previously been seen on the cans – things like "for a healthy gut" and "be gut healthy, be gut happy." The cans on the website also no longer display those logos. So, although the company says that the claims against it are baseless, the company has still made changes to its advertisements.

Since this lawsuit has come out, many people have become skeptical of Poppi, and have even chosen to support other "better-for-you" soda brands like Olipop or Culture Pop. There are, however, videos of other customers who stand firm in their love of the Poppi soda brand.