Poppi Soda Sales Took Off After The Company Made This One TikTok

When it was sold to PepsiCo in May of 2025, Poppi was valued at $1.95 billion — a deal that marked the culmination of the prebiotic soda alternative's popularity as well as the grocery store drink aisle's at large. Sold in approximately 120 major retailers across the country, including Costco, Target, and Whole Foods, you might never guess that humble origins, or a certain TikTok video, are what actually led to the brand's success.

Created in the North Texas kitchen of Allison and Steven Ellsworth in 2017, Allison was experiencing post-pregnancy gut health issues and realized that, despite how much she enjoyed the taste of them in the moment, she did not enjoy the way her favorite traditional sodas made her feel afterward. In an effort to find an alternative that wasn't just good tasting, but good for you, too, Allison decided to make her own soda alternative by combining juice, carbonated water, and prebiotics.

Originally called "Mother Juice" — a play on her new-found role and the cloudy, cluster of floating prebiotics that often settle at the bottom of bottles of fermented drinks — Allison and her husband first began selling the homemade prebiotic drinks from a stand at the local Dallas farmer's market before appearing on the ABC series "Shark Tank." But it wasn't until Allison posted her story on TikTok that her prebiotic drinks really started to pop off — literally and figuratively.

When they appeared on Season 10, Episode 8 of ABC's "Shark Tank," Allison and Steven Ellsworth were seeking a $400,000 investment for 10% stake in the company, valuing it at 4 million. But most of the Sharks thought it was too early to invest that kind of money. In the end, however, they were able to hook guest Rohan Oza with a $400,000 investment for a 25% stake in the company — an amount that, given Poppi's recent valuation, resulted in a return of nearly $500 million. It didn't happen overnight, of course. It took a massive rebrand, some soda flavor development, and a moment of TikTok virality to build Poppi into the household brand it is today. 

The Ellsworths' "Shark Tank" episode aired in 2018, and Mother Juice rebranded to Poppi in 2020 — just in time for the COVID-19 pandemic to change everything. Amid an aluminum shortage and a lot of doubts, Allison finally decided to turn to TikTok in 2021, posting a video of herself sharing the brand's story. "I just hit post and went to bed. The next day we did over $100,000 on Amazon while we were sleeping, and that video now has over 90 million views," she told KHOU 11 in 2025. Poppi's popularity only soared from there, leading to celebrity investors like Olivia Munn and Russell Westbrook and, eventually, a Super Bowl 2024 commercial before selling to PepsiCo in May of 2025.