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It looks like that whole influencer vending machine debacle didn’t hurt Poppi after all. On Monday, PepsiCo revealed that it is acquiring the prebiotic soda brand for a whopping $1.95 billion.
“More than ever, consumers are looking for convenient and great-tasting options that fit their lifestyles and respond to their growing interest in health and wellness,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement.
The sale includes $300 million of anticipated cash benefits, so the net purchase price is $1.65 billion. Not too shabby for a brand that Allison Ellsworth, the co-founder of Poppi, created in her kitchen in 2015.
“We can’t wait to begin this next chapter with PepsiCo to bring our soda to more people – and I know they will honor what makes Poppi so special while supporting our next phase of growth and innovation,” Ellsworth said in a statement.
Poppi has not been without controversy, however. There was the aforementioned $25,000 vending machines the company sent to 32 influencers which were widely criticized, calling the company “out of touch,” blasting them for “destroying the environment” by creating and shipping the vending machines to influencers, and if they were going to send out free vending machines with their soda in them, why didn’t they send to places they would do the most good, such as schools.
Ellsworth would later take to social media to try and defuse the controversy. She claimed the $25,000 price “is not true,” that the vending machines will eventually be shipped to other people (costing even more in shipping), and used in “marketing events, community pop-ups, and giveaways.”
Poppi was also the defendant in multiple class-action lawsuits filed in 2024. The main gist of the complaints were that Poppi’s products don’t improve gut health as significantly as they are marketed as doing. Poppi denied the claims, adding that it removed references to “gut health” from its packaging in late 2023. However, last week, just prior to the sale to PepsiCo, Poppi agreed to a settlement that includes $8.9 million that will be put into a fund for payments to consumers.
Reactions to the sale of Poppi to Pepsi on social media were very mixed. There were, of course, numerous positive comments congratulating Poppi, but they appear to be outweighed by those who are worried that PepsiCo will change Poppi, and not for the positive.
“Good job Poppi! Built a good brand great get by Pepsi,” one person wrote, echoing several other comments.
“Now they can add corn syrup and other dyes to make them as gross and unhealthy as other Pepsi products! Nice!” one consumer lamented.
“Now it won’t be good and they will cut costs to make it cheaper. I hate when brands sellout!” someone else complained.
“Pepsi is just going to put their poison in Poppi,” read another comment.
Content shared from brobible.com.