Allison Ellsworth explains why Poppi needed a strategic acquisition partner like PepsiCo to overcome legacy stadium pouring rights.
Insight
Beverage brands cannot access UNFI distribution without retail accounts secured
“It's like the chicken or the egg, like, get into Unify if you don't have a retailer. If you don't have a retailer, you can't get in.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
No better-for-you beverage brand used brightly colored cans before Poppi's rebrand
“Hands down, I will say I was wrong. Colored cans were the way to go. It just popped off the shelf, and no one was doing better for you with color at the time.”
Insight
Ellsworth: Modern soda brands must package in 12-ounce cans, not glass
“If we're gonna call ourselves soda, we can no longer be in glass bottles. We 100% have to be in 12 ounce soda cans.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Poppi's monthly Amazon sales surged from $3,000 to $250,000 post-Shark Tank
“We're doing, like, 3000 on Amazon quickly over the next few months. We're doing 250,000 on Amazon a month.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Viral TikTok video generated $100,000 in overnight Amazon sales for Poppi
“Honestly, one night, I sat down on the couch, and I just told my story. I did it in one minute or less of, started this in my kitchen, got a deal on Shark Tank, it's five grams of sugar, it's apple cider vinegar, it's this, dah, dah, dah, and I posted it and w…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Poppi founders launched the beverage brand with $90,000 in personal capital
“Yeah, so I went to my sister, who's always been a really big believer in me, and she ended up giving us 30,000 dollars. My dad gave us 30,000 dollars, and then we put 30,000 dollars in of our own money. So basically a total of 90,000 dollars, which was everyth…”