- The Grocer
- Posts
- š„¤Changing the Soda Game
š„¤Changing the Soda Game
Better-for-you sodas like Olipop are changing the way people think about soda... and their gut.
šš» Hey gang!!
Long time, no see!
This is the sixth newsletter and the second with a beverage focusā¦ The Grocer is 33.33% beverage and I am totally fine with that. š¤·š»āāļø
I donāt know what it is about them, but ready-to-drink beverages just scream āhappy little treatā! Ask anyone ā a can/bottle of sparkling water, soda, cold brew? Everyone loves themā¦ me included.
My personal favorite, and the topic of todayās main story, is Olipop! A functional soda developing flavors reminiscent of the nostalgic sodas everyone knows and loves.
Psst!! Little secret hereā¦ A can of Vintage Cola from Olipop with a packet of True Lime will change your life! Trust me. Your tastebuds will pull out these dance moves you didnāt know they had in them. šŗš»šš½
Olipop Vintage Cola and True Lime
Today's Content
Hope you enjoy the read! Feel free to reply with any thoughts or comments. And, if you really really liked it, consider sharing it with a friend!? š
Have a great week!
Sam Sherfey
BETTER-FOR-YOU SODA
Think of Your Gut ā Drink a Soda
Itās a category that didnāt really exist until recently, but itās making noise at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Momās Organic Market, and beyondā¦
Better-for-you soda, now officially known as functional soda, has exploded in popularity over the last few years, largely thanks to a brand obsessed with gut health. The category, in short, is low in sugar (2-5g vs. 40g or more in āregular sodaā) while containing ingredients with functional benefits ā in this case, 9g of soluble fiber and gut-healthy prebiotics.
The entirety of the soda industry is a $42B industry with 98% household penetration in the United States. Olipop is battling its way into this market while taking on the big bad wolves of soda ā PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company and Keurigg Dr. Pepper ā as well as other competing brands.
Olipop is building the functional soda for everyone, not just the folks shopping in the natural food markets. They mean businessā¦ biiiig business. With experience from past CPG startups and a treasure chest of funding from trusted investors, Ben Goodwin and David Lester are building a rocket ship.
Olipop started with a $100,000 investment and, since then, has raised a Series B round of $39.7M from venture capital funds as well as some very notable names. In the fall of 2023, the company became a Certified B Corp.
Notable Olipop investors include:
ā¢ Camila Cabello, singer and songwriter
ā¢ Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and founder of Goop
ā¢ Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo
ā¢ Peter Rahal, founder of RXBAR
ā¢ Payal Kadakia, founder of ClassPass
ā¢ The Jonas Brothers, pop band
ā¢ Mindy Kaling, actress and screenwriter
ā¢ Logic, rapper and singer
ā¢ Rocana Ventures, mission-driven VC fund
In 2023, Olipop did over $200M in revenue (up from $74M in 2022), reached 10% household penetration, and surpassed A&W as the best-selling root beer in the United States, (CNBC).
Listen here: Where gut health meets hypergrowth with Ben Goodwin from Olipop, (Apple Podcasts, Spotify) š§
Those sales and the trajectory of the popularity put Olipop at third in total sales at major national retailers* while occupying only about 30,000 retailers which is less than half as many as companies of comparable size. Olipop is looking to double the number of retailers in 2024 as they prioritize small format and convenience retailers to increase accessibility and further awareness and growth.
Source: Olipop
This rapid sales growth has ābig sodaā inquiring about acquisition opportunities as they look toā¦
Regain customers theyāve lost to the new category
Capitalize on shifting trends
Thereās no single cause or strategy behind Olipopās growth but the timing is pretty perfect. The better-for-you soda movement is coming at a time when kombucha (probiotic) sales are slumping, mocktails & non-alcoholic drinks are becoming more popular, and younger generations are, in general, giving their health & diet more attention.
š¹OlipopĀ Mocktails in Minutes
Elevating mocktails with an online mixologist creating refreshing drinks based on your taste preferences. Originally published as support for those observing Dry January, Olipopās Olivier has helped tens of thousands of users mix their own mocktails with Classic Grape as the campaignās top seller, increasing sales 31% over the week prior to the campaign.
The campaign was supported by a UGC (user-generated content) challenge that garnered over 600 submissions and 570,000,000+ impressions on TikToker, Gracie Nortonās #SleepyGirlMocktail trend.
Despite their meteoric success, Olipop isnāt relying on organic market shifts alone to drive their business. Olipop has scaled over the past through years through an exclusive partnership with Target (Cherry Cola), incredible customer experience, A+ communication through social and email, and endless UI testing and enhancement.
Olipopās Product Detail Page Evolution
Olipopās Homepage Evolution
Leading a new and emerging category requires constant tinkering and optimization as well as consistent, clear, and concise consumer education & product positioning. Olipop does this through their communication on social, their website, and beyond, but one of the more interesting components is how theyāve defined their own product.
Olipop is āA New Kind of Sodaā¢ā but initially arrived on store shelves as a āSparkling Tonicā. The transition is clearly a prioritization of their bet on the relationship consumers have with traditional soda. Instead of badmouthing or trying to separate themselves from the term āsodaā, they are embracing the love and nostalgia most people have for it.
Youāll find plenty of other playful brands in the category, such as Poppi, Culture Pop, Vina, Healthade Pop, and Halfday (a prebiotic iced tea), in the ready-to-drink end-cap or by the checkout. Ultimately, Olipop reigns supreme with a cult-like following, and deservedly so, though Poppi is giving their biggest and best effort at writing their own argument for being the household name in functional soda.
Poppi ran the first ever Super Bowl commercial for a functional soda with their āThe Future of Soda is Nowā campaign. It was one of the more talked about commercials of the night. While Poppi is getting their fair share of attention, the category as a whole is benefiting from the spot and its focus on category awareness and consumer education. Itās one of those ārising tide lifts all shipsā situationsā¦
Watch here: Poppi Super Bowl LVIII 2024 Commercial, (YouTube)Ā š
Thereās plenty to come from the functional soda category and Olipop as we look for new flavors, retail expansion, more experiential content, and continued microbiome benefits.
I didnāt hear you ask, but Iāll go ahead and assume youāre just dying to hear my personal Olipop flavor power rankings, so without further adieuā¦
1. Vintage Cola
2. Ginger Ale
3. Dr. Goodwin
4. Cherry Cola
5. Lemon Lime
*Major National Retailer Sales (in dollars) for the 12 weeks ending 1/28/2024
AISLE 8
Boston Cannons Win PLL Championship Series
Old-school grocery stores were more than, well, groceries. They were the go-to place for most of your shopping. This was before department stores, big box, and so on. With that in mind, Iāll be using āAisle 8ā as a place to drop headlines from other industries, such as sports, design, and so on.
Premier Lacrosse Leagueās Boston Cannons win the second annual Championship Series.
The PLL is an eight-team, single-entity lacrosse league co-founded by Paul and Mike Rabin with significant investment from The Raine Group, The Chernin Group, Creative Artists Agency, Joe Tsai, and others.
The league plays a full season of field lacrosse in the summer months and an Olympic-style āsixesā tournament in the winter, featuring the top-4 teams from the previous season. The Championship Series was created to incentivize teamsā regular season finishing position, provide more playing opportunities for PLL players that do not play in the National Lacrosse League (Box Lacrosse), and to create more inventory for the PLL's broadcasting partners.
The 2024 Championship Series took place February 14-19th at The St. James outside of Washington D.C. The Boston Cannons defeated the Philadelphia Waterdogs 23-22 in overtime. This was the Cannons first championship since joining the league as a result of the PLLās acquisition of Major League Lacrosse and their related properties.
The PLLās regular season begins May 21st when the leagueās eight teams descend on Albany, New York to begin the leagueās sixth season.
PRESENTED BY
Your New Favorite Coffee
Coffee and pastries served by some guy in a van.
Short storyā¦ in 2018, I quit a job with nothing lined up. I was down in the dumps, and my dad gave me a pep talk that Iāll never forget. He told me I had tons of opportunity ahead and that I didnāt have to be chained to a desk.
Now, apparently, at some point I had mentioned this dream of a mobile coffeeshop. While I have no recollection of that, itās stuck with me since this talk.
Iāve started referring to the concept as āGeneric Coffeeā, and itās become somewhat of a symbol for optimism, perseverance, and what lies ahead.
*Advertise with The Grocer
LISTEN
š eCommerce Innovators: Eli Weiss
Eli Weiss is the VP of Retention Advocacy at Yotpo. Prior to this role, he held numerous positions across CX & Retention at leading DTC and retail brands, such as Jones Road Beauty and Olipop.
In this episode:
The crucial role of customer education across the buyer journey
Early experiences in the world of eCommerce as a generalist
How Olipop's culture early on was pivotal to its success
Balancing brand building with measuring marketing return
Creating legendary experiences for customers
The importance of customer conversations and how to have them
His move to Yotpo and work building the future of CX & retention
Connect with Eli on LinkedIn.
Check out his CX & Retention Newsletter.
Listen here: Apple Podcasts, SpotifyĀ š§
Want to advertise with The Grocer? Ad Opportunities.
Other newsletters recommended by The Grocer.