A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A new generation of soda - that's the pitch Pepsi bought this week for nearly $2 billion. NPR's Alina Selyukh reports on what Pepsi hopes to gain with the upstart brand Poppi.
ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE: About a decade ago was the heyday of the fermented tea many love to hate, kombucha.
MARTIN CABALLERO: But it had a lot of practical issues.
SELYUKH: Martin Caballero is the managing editor at the beverage industry trade publication BevNET.com. He says kombucha is finicky, needs refrigeration and, well...
CABALLERO: Its taste was polarizing.
SELYUKH: It's not for everyone. The stage was set for a new type of fizzy health drink. In Texas, Allison and Stephen Ellsworth experimented with apple cider vinegar, and in 2018, they brought their pitch to ABC's "Shark Tank."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SHARK TANK")
ALLISON ELLSWORTH: So what do you say, Sharks? Are you ready to try the best-tasting apple cider vinegar drink you've ever had?
SELYUKH: They called it Mother Beverage, but after that investment from one of the sharks, the brand transformed into Poppi. Vibrant cans showed up in Whole Foods and Walmart, claiming to be prebiotic, containing fiber meant to feed the good bacteria in our guts.
CABALLERO: And that sort of coincided with a big interest around gut health as a wellness trend.
SELYUKH: This week, Poppi actually settled a class-action lawsuit that argued it had overstated the gut health benefits of its drinks. And Caballero points out Poppi had been shifting its marketing. Now it's less health drink and more healthier soda. Here's a Super Bowl commercial.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR: It tastes like soda, looks like soda, smells like soda and fizzes like soda - because it is soda.
SELYUKH: Stealing shoppers from diet pop is a big deal. Coca-Cola just launched its own prebiotic soda called Simply Pop, and Pepsi wanted in to add to its Gatorade, SodaStream and Bubly. And Poppi fans online say they just hope their favorite better-for-you soda does not get worse for you in the process.
Alina Selyukh, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF PAUL JACOBS SONG, "CHRISTOPHER ROBBINS") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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