Making Soda, Not Gut Health, Poppi’s Customer Entry Point
Allison Ellsworth argues that Poppi became a more than $500 million beverage brand by treating awareness as its primary operating metric and positioning a low-sugar, prebiotic drink first as soda rather than as a gut-health product. The company accepted years of losses to fund retail expansion, social media, creators and Super Bowl advertising, while using digital demand to support national distribution. Ellsworth says Pepsi’s acquisition solved the remaining constraint: access to beverage channels and distribution systems Poppi could not build alone.
My First Million·Aug 24, 2026·13 min read
