logo
How prebiotic soda Olipop leveraged social media to grow from a $100,000 investment to a $1.85 billion brand on shelves at Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods

How prebiotic soda Olipop leveraged social media to grow from a $100,000 investment to a $1.85 billion brand on shelves at Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods

Yahoo02-05-2025
Soda is becoming a superfood. Next time you go down the soft drink aisle at the grocery store, you may notice a growing number of new names and designs vying for your dollars.
They aren't just promising a refreshing satisfaction to your sweet tooth or carbonation craving—the new industry is promising a healthy alternative to the long-dominant soda companies Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The one company now leading the charge is Olipop.
Olipop calls its drinks 'a new kind of soda' because of their emphasis on nutrition versus sugary craving—with prebiotics, plant fiber, and natural sweeteners found in each of its 18 flavors (vintage cola, grape, and crisp apple are the most popular). However, going from a startup big to a household consumer brand has been no easy feat; to spread the word, the company relies on social media and on showing up where consumers are, such as at sporting events.
With a valuation of $1.85 billion, Olipop is profitable and surpassed $400 million in revenue last year. And its biggest competitor, Poppi, was recently acquired by PepsiCo for $1.65 billion, leaving Olipop one of the largest independent challengers to the soda giants.
Getting loyal soda drinkers to try a new product has not been an easy task—it's taken years of recipe experimentation, long-shot retail pitches, and thousands of social media posts to find success.
Ben Goodwin cofounded Olipop in 2018 and now serves as CEO of the Oakland-based company. He says the secret hasn't been based on encouraging people to give up their love and nostalgia for soda, but instead making a new version that's craveable and has real health benefits.
'Our approach has celebrated these intergenerational connections rather than trying to replace them. By honoring that emotional connection while elevating the experience, we've built a brand that doesn't just replace soda—it evolves it,' Goodwin tells Fortune.
From the very beginning, Olipop knew it had to break conventions to make it in the cutthroat soda world, and Steven Vigilante, part of the founding Olipop team, took to social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to propel the brand as a fun new way for young people in particular to get their soda fix.
'[We] don't take ourselves too seriously,' Vigilante, now the director of strategic partnerships, tells Fortune. 'We're soda. We play in the soda space. We have the gut health stuff. There are very obvious ties between fiber and poop, and we shouldn't be afraid of that.'
On top of leaning into toilet humor and viral trends, Olipop has emphasized being human-first as a way to gain name recognition against multibillion-dollar brands. If you scroll through Olipop's social feeds on TikTok or Instagram, you won't find highly produced content, but you will find short and sweet plays on viral trends, emojis, and soda cans.
'I always tell the team, if you're going to write a comment from the account, make sure it sounds like it's coming from a person, not a brand, because every brand sounds the same,' Vigilante says.
It's a lane that Coca-Cola, for example, has yet to embrace. The $300 billion company (over 150 times that of Olipop) has about three times more TikTok followers than Olipop but only posts a fraction of the content.
Olipop's goal to chip away at the market slowly has been working, with the product now found in some 50,000 retailers, like Target and Whole Foods. Moreover, according to Vigilante, Olipop is now a 'nine-figure business' at Walmart.
And even though a 12-pack of prebiotic soda may cost you over three times more than Coke or Pepsi, many customers don't mind—and it's catching the eye of the big brands.
However, instead of buying up competition like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola seems to be going its own way. Earlier this year, it launched a prebiotic soda under the Simply Juice brand name, with flavors like strawberry, fruit punch, and pineapple mango (there is no cola-flavored or 'Coke' prebiotic option). Moreover, on the product's web page, there is, notably, a 'Commonly Asked' question section that calls out competitors by name, offering an answer to how Simply Pop compares with Olipop and Poppi.
But it's not just supermarket shelves where functional soda is expanding—it's in sporting venue contracts, too, an area that soda brands once thought was impenetrable. Last year, the Barclays Center in New York approached Olipop with a desire to carve out its existing Pepsi contract to sell prebiotic soda—something Vigilante says is unprecedented in the beverage industry. Now Olipop is sold in six different major sporting venues—including the $2 billion L.A. Clippers Intuit Dome—as well as being the official beverage partner of two professional soccer teams.
While product placement and creator partnerships have overall aided Olipop in growing its brand, Vigilante credits simply being at the right place at the right time and following consumer demands.
'I'm obsessed with being in the zeitgeist, and I think as a brand, especially in the soda space, where soda is so deeply in the consumer zeitgeist already, it becomes more and more important, the bigger we get, to keep showing up in different places,' he says.
According to Sam Shapiro, a principal at L.E.K. Consulting who has followed the beverage market for close to a decade, the demand for traditional soft drinks has been slowly declining as consumers have opted away from high-fructose corn syrup and sugar in their diet. Functional products, like prebiotic soda, have been able to fill the gap with 'durability.'
'Alternative sodas have just dramatically outpaced the broader soda market, in terms of retail sales, volume sales, and even the presence in food service,' Shapiro tells Fortune.
And with growth unlikely to slow down anytime soon, businesses like Olipop are a perfect example of how to properly embrace and cater to a market shifting toward younger consumers.
'Our generation is in charge now,' Vigilante, who is a millennial, says. 'The businesses that have figured that out are winning, and the businesses that still have legacy people with legacy ways of thinking in these seats—it's reflected in their company performance and their stock price right now.'
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

PepsiCo to end manufacturing at Detroit plant
PepsiCo to end manufacturing at Detroit plant

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

PepsiCo to end manufacturing at Detroit plant

This story was originally published on Food Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Food Dive newsletter. PepsiCo is closing part of its operations at a Detroit facility as the snack and beverage giant aims to bring production in line with sagging consumer demand. The company said in a Michigan WARN notice it will discontinue its production, maintenance and transport operations at the beverage facility on Sept. 27. PepsiCo said its warehouse, fleet, delivery, sales and field-service technician teams will continue to operate at the location. Approximately 83 people will be laid off as part of the move, according to the WARN notice. 'We are committed to supporting those impacted through this transition, and we are offering pay and benefits to impacted employees," PepsiCo said in a statement. The partial closure marks the latest move by the New York-based company to consolidate operations. Last year, it announced it would shutter bottling plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Georgia. PepsiCo also has closed snack facilities in New York and California. PepsiCo's beverage business has struggled as consumers continue to shift away from sugar-laden offerings. In the company's most recent quarter, volumes in its North American beverage operations fell 2% despite strength in Pepsi Zero Sugar. Still, the performance marked a slight improvement from the 3% drop the unit posted in 2024. Earlier this week, PepsiCo announced it will launch prebiotic versions of its namesake soda this fall to attract health-conscious consumers back to its Pepsi brand. Recommended Reading PepsiCo to shutter 3 more bottling plants, lay off hundreds Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

This week in 5 numbers: The last time the federal minimum wage was raised
This week in 5 numbers: The last time the federal minimum wage was raised

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

This week in 5 numbers: The last time the federal minimum wage was raised

This story was originally published on HR Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily HR Dive newsletter. One company is pushing workers to take five consecutive paid days off this summer in an effort to recharge the workforce, while another is suing an IT help desk provider for the cost of a cyberattack. Here's a closer look at those numbers and some of the others making headlines in the HR world. By the numbers 5 The number of consecutive days off Olipop leadership is asking employees to take between June and September as part of the soda marker's summer PTO initiative. $7.25 The hourly amount of the federal minimum wage, which has remained unchanged for 16 years, as of this week. 18 The number of conservative states that sought to dismiss their pending lawsuit against the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after a Texas district court judge's decision to vacate portions of the agency's harassment guidance. 19% The percentage of workers surveyed who said they have disguised their mental health days as physical illness days, according to a recent report on sick time. $380 million The amount that a 2023 cyberattack that affected Clorox's production capability cost, the company said in a lawsuit against Cognizant, which managed its IT help desk. Recommended Reading This week in 5 numbers: EEOC secures $1.4M anti-American bias settlement Sign in to access your portfolio

Cramer's week ahead: Fed meeting, nonfarm payrolls, Big Tech earnings
Cramer's week ahead: Fed meeting, nonfarm payrolls, Big Tech earnings

CNBC

time4 hours ago

  • CNBC

Cramer's week ahead: Fed meeting, nonfarm payrolls, Big Tech earnings

Next week could be a game changer for Wall Street, CNBC's Jim Cramer said. He told investors to pay attention to a slew of market-moving events, including the Federal Reserve's meeting, the latest nonfarm payroll report and earnings tech titans Apple, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft. "Next week, no hyperbole, is pivotal. It's significant. I'm willing to make it a free-fire zone of superlatives," he said. "In short, next week determines the market's direction for the duration. Or at least the rest of the summer." On Monday, Cramer said he'll be paying attention to earnings from Celestica and Whirlpool. Cramer said electronics manufacturer Celestica will give insight into how a number of tech companies are doing. President Donald Trump's tariffs might bode well for home appliance maker Whirlpool, which does substantial manufacturing in the U.S., he continued. Tuesday brings reports from UnitedHealth, Boeing, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks and Visa. Cramer suggested UnitedHealth's cooperation with the government in a probe into its Medicare billing practices is a positive, even though the insurer remains "an un-investible story." Cramer said he hopes Boeing will detail its dealings with the government, and he predicted the stock will head higher. To Cramer, Procter & Gamble's business is "a question of raw costs and tariffs versus marketing muscle," but added that he thinks the dollar's weakness abroad is a tailwind for the company. Starbucks will likely reveal plans for its business in China, Cramer said, adding that he thinks the coffee chain will also report improved throughput. According to Cramer, Visa's quarter is usually met with selling because its financials are hard to understand. He said he would be a buyer on the dip. The Federal Reserve will meet on Wednesday, and Cramer said he thinks Fed Chair Jerome Powell will express the need for caution with respect to tariff-driven inflation. It's also likely Powell will say he intends to stay in his role until the end of his term next spring, Cramer added. Wednesday also brings earnings from Microsoft and Meta, and Cramer said their stock moves indicate better-than-expected results. Cramer recommended waiting to hear from Microsoft management before making a move on the stock. He said he thinks Meta will report success in advertising, specifically from social media platform Instagram. He also wondered if the company would start charging for messaging program WhatsApp, saying the new revenue stream could be a windfall. Big Tech earnings continue on Thursday, with Apple and Amazon set to report, and Cramer noted both companies stocks have been climbing steadily. While he said he still believes investors should own, not trade, Apple, he's expecting an "unexciting quarter" and a slowdown in growth from its services revenue stream. Cramer said he expects a solid quarter from Amazon, saying he thinks its business segments are performing well, namely its online retail, advertising and web services. Friday, the Labor Department will release the nonfarm payroll report, which measures employment. Cramer said it would be ideal to see continued growth in hiring and stables wages. President Donald Trump can't "hector" Powell to cut rates if wages are higher, he continued. Oil giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil will report Friday, and Cramer said he is unsure about what the latter will say. But he said he expects Chevron to raise its outlook, noting the company just completed its acquisition of Hess after winning a legal battle with Exxon over disputed oil assets. Click here to download Jim Cramer's Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest The CNBC Investing Club Charitable Trust owns shares of Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Starbucks.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store