CPG: Healthy Soda
Poppi, Olipop, and United Sodas via Well+Good.
There’s a huge trend that has erupted in the CPG space recently and it’s somewhat of an oxymoron. Healthy soda? All great ideas are born from a gap in the marketplace and soda brands definitely needed a refresh. The long-lived feud between Coca-Cola and Pepsi is out and we find ourselves living among the Poppi/Olipop/Pop Culture feud, along with many others. While the classic soda brands still have their place, these new soda brands fit into a new category—the wellness space. Gasp!
It’s true. These brands are proudly marketing themselves as being healthy by including prebiotics and probiotics in their ingredients. I personally never liked soda because I dislike the bubbles 🫧 (they make me burp up my nose) and find the taste to be overly sweet. But like the true Millennial I am, I’m gullible to colors and gut-health—these brands knew what they were doing.
But do these brands have it what it takes to remain competitive, no only against each other, but within the marketplace of beverages and soda? How can they continue to stay ahead of the game so that they don’t become a washed up brand but rather one that can last for decades? In today’s post, I’ll be exploring just that.
The Competition
I remember when Poppi, a brand that includes apple cider vinegar in their products, came out and I ran to tell all my friends. I used them as mixers, pouring ‘Raspberry Rose’ into a mason jar with a shot (or two) to bring to a house party, carrying ‘Orange’ to the park with my girlfriends as a refreshing summer beverage, and enjoyed ‘Ginger Lime’ after I ate a Thai takeout meal as a way to settle my stomach. And then something quite unexpected happened, the brand seemed to blow up practically overnight.
Founded in 2015, they were featured on Shark Tank 🦈 with the slogan, “Mother Beverage,” paying homage to Kombucha, which was having a moment. From there, the brand has skyrocketed to 377K followers on Instagram as well as partnerships with celebs and influencers including Olivia Munn and Post Malone. They have also perfected the nostalgic, colorful, trendy combo on their social media. Not to mention they surpassed $100m in sales last year!
Olipop and Pop Culture have also curated a nostalgic, eye-catching aesthetic. They offer unique flavors as well including ‘Vintage Cola’ and ‘Strawberry Rhubarb,’ respectfully. And they also boast themselves as being the new kind of soda, a healthy alternative, and low in sugar content. While I have less of a personal affiliation with these brands, their rise to fame has not gone unnoticed.
Olipop’s 300K on Instagram, their recent feature in Time Magazine, and their questionable Pringles partnership on a Sour Cream & Onions flavor are impressive feats. In the Fall of last year, they announced themselves as a B-Corp and expected $200m in sales! They’re even focusing heavily on the work/life balance and happiness of their employees 😃, we love to see it. Below, you can see they are right up there amongst the fastest growing privately held food and beverage companies as of 2023. Private label food and beverage sales have increased almost 50 billion from just 2019-2023. Pop Culture, on the other hand, is a bit fresh off the boat so to speak. Their 17K followers on Instagram mainly come from influencer partnerships and the heartwarming founder’s story. They did just receive $21m in funding so more eyes may be on them soon 👀.
Sales growth of privately held food and beverage companies US 2023 via Statista.
While there are numerous other brands to discuss, I’ll be focusing on these three as they have a similar message and branding. So how do they position themselves, exactly? Poppi prides themselves as the soda to feel good about, the one without the calories or the sugar content so you can walk around with your can loud and proud! (Definitely aligns with their colorful packaging). Olipop focuses on nostalgia—there’s that trend again—re-creating soda flavors into healthy alternatives. Lastly, Pop Culture focus on their simple ingredients. They also mention their lack of stevia right below the fold on their website (looking at Poppi here 👀) that’s some competition at play. While all three have added probiotics/prebiotics into their ingredients, these distinct product benefits have allowed them to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
Positioning Statements
If I were to create positioning statements for these three brands, I would say:
Poppi - To soda lovers who are conscious of their health Poppi is a low-sugar soda brand that offers prebiotics in each can because the “mother” from apple cider vinegar creates healthy gut bacteria so that you can enjoy and flaunt your childhood drinks without the guilt.
Olipop - To nostalgic soda enthusiasts who are looking for ways to improve their digestion Olipop is a soda with prebiotics and fiber that improves gut health because patented OLIsmart™️ combines seven botanicals, plant fibers, and prebiotics so that you can indulge in a daily treat that enhances your body.
Culture Pop - To adults who are looking for an all-natural soda alternative Culture Pop is a refreshing and unsweetened soda that uses simple ingredients because each can contains organic fruit juices and probiotics so that you can savor a treat that simultaneously improves your well-being.
While I am simply going off their websites and don’t have the full data to back these up, it’s clear when written out how distinct and focused a brand can get simply by utilizing certain words over others.
The Strategy
As mentioned, these are just three ‘new’ soda brands that have emerged in the last decade. The competition is fierce and does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. There’s been a huge trend in alternative sparkling drinks (remember La Croix and White Claw?) and the new wave 🌊 is here in the form of healthy soda alternatives. Unfortunately, as most things in the consumer space, trends come and go as life ebbs and flows. What can these soda brands do to stay on top of their A game and in the minds of their consumers?
Product diversification: I was actually discussing Poppi in class during an exercise recently and had an idea that got me extremely excited. As they’re trying to re-create childhood beverages, why not expand their product line? They could bring back apple juice 🍎, lemonade 🍋 (not that I ever stopped drinking this) and Snapple-like drinks. Or they could expand to offering healthy snacks from our childhood as well. Unreal snacks perfected the peanut butter cup to create a dark chocolate, guilt-free alternative—I could literally eat the whole bag. Pop Up Grocer in the West Village has tons of up-and-coming snack brands in this category. Point is, there are TONS of ways to expand utilizing nostalgia and health as a product focus. At the end of the day, we are all big kids at heart who just want our Cheez-Its 🧀.
Poppi’s colorful cans via Brit + Co.
Partnerships: One of my favorite areas of any brand is the partnership space. There is so much creativity to be had! The Barbie™️ movie collabs? 💖 Brilliant. When I think of excellent CPG partnerships, I think of Van Leeuwen ice cream 🍦. I may be bias (iykyk) but they have repeatedly hit the nail on the head when it comes to marketing, solely based on their celeb/influencer partnerships. On June 28th, their limited partnership with Sabrina Carpenter launches with the flavor ‘Espresso,’ a double-entendre to the flavor ☕️ and the song of the summer. While Poppi and Olipop have utilized celebs/influencers in their social media posts, creating limited flavors with famous individuals creates excitement for consumers and press alike. And once there’s a story, there’s bound to be sales.
Subscriptions: Interestingly, Olipop and Culture Pop have hopped on this trend, but Poppi has yet to do so. Offering a subscription model is all the rage and a great way to increase CLV (customer lifetime value), monthly sales, and consumer loyalty. According to Forbes, there are nine reasons companies should be using a subscription model. Their idea on using subscription boxes to test new products is also brilliant. If these brands started using their monthly subscribers as product testers, perhaps including a QR code to fill out a quick survey after trying the sample, they are creating trust with their consumers as well as encouraging WOM (word of mouth). If I were a subscriber and received a sample, say, every three months, you bet I would running to tell my friends to sign up.
Sabrina Carpenter ‘Espresso’ ice cream with Van Leeuwen.
Conclusion
Perhaps it’s important to mention the elephant 🐘 in the room—Poppi’s recent law suit claiming they aren’t as healthy as they say they are. Olipop and Culture Pop are also mentioned in the article, putting these companies in a difficult position in the consumer’s mind. The lawsuit has potentially made Poppi rethink their messaging, no longer including claims surrounding health benefits on in-store displays and altering their website as well. This claim goes to show just how convincing marketing can be and how important it is for a brand’s messaging to be clear.
Despite these allegations, it’s safe to say healthy soda is here to stay. With it’s nod to nostalgic childhood favorites, colorful Gen Z packaging/promotions, and focus on health, these brands have achieved conscious loyalty in the eyes of their target audience. However, to ensure they stay around for a while longer and don’t burn out like La Croix, implementing product diversification, flavor collaborations, and more intricate subscription models could be just the trick. As e-commerce sales in the food and beverage industries are rapidly increasing, subscription models could certainly be a great way to encourage consumers to favor purchasing online as a way to save and receive special incentives to do so.
Food and beverage e-commerce sale trends via Statista.
What do you think of these strategies? What are your ideas? Comment below!
Liana ✨ 🦋 🪩
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams - Eleanor Roosevelt