Coca Cola is presenting a line of prebiotic sodas, which marks the first incursion of the Legacy Beverage brand in the “functional” soft drink market directed by the Olipop and Poppi upstart versions of soft drinks.
The company announced on Tuesday that it would present the soft drinks, called Simply Pop, which said it will have prebiotic ingredients aimed at digestive health. First they will be available in the USA. Before expanding to other markets at the end of this year.
Prebiotic soft drinks generally combine content under sugar and high fiber with ingredients aimed at promoting intestinal health, similar to kombucha and other fermented drinks. They are known as “functional” because they are sold as a well -being product, although some health professionals have tempered expectations of their health benefits.
Olipop’s co-founder and CEO .
“It is a great honor that the world’s largest soft drink brand has decided that the category … is a great place to look for growth,” said Goodwin.
Coca-Cola, which will launch soft drinks in three flavors, is entering a market thirst for drinkers and younger people who opt for alcohol. But even when the drinking giant becomes probiotic, smaller Canadian brands are intended to force their own niche.
Why are drinks seeing a wave
The prebiotic soda market is dominated by the California Olipop company and its Texas -based competitor, Poppi. The latter was founded when its creators made an appearance in 2018 at the Commercial Campaign reality show Shark tank. Both brands have grown exponentially since then: Olipop was recently valued at $ 1.85 billion of coke.
Coca-Col Prebiotic soft drinks, “said Becca Kerr, chief chief executive of Nutrition at The Coca-Cola Company, in a press release.
“Since many brands in this category are new, they sought to align with the names they know and trust both quality and taste. This was particularly true for those curious about prebiotic soft drinks but who had not yet made the jump,” said. .
Many consumers are trying to drink less pop and soft drinks, but they are still looking for gaseous alternatives with a health component, said Aleena Mazhar Kuzma, Senior Vice President, managing director and partner of the Toronto Fuse Create Marketing Agency.
There has not been a consensus on the positive benefits for the health of these drinks, but experts say that they generally do not harm, so some consumers say they enjoy them as a pleasure without guilt in moderation.
However, Poppi currently faces a collective claim from a consumer who says that the company’s drinks are not as “healthy spending” as their marketing would make consumers create, and that the increase in the consumption of sugar that comes with drinking Regularly its products exceeds the benefits of its prebiotic fiber ingredients.
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Meanwhile, young adults in Canada are drinking less alcohol, according to Statistics Canada, and generation Z is particular not taking as much as previous generations. The studies carried out in the US have demonstrated similar patterns. Drink retailers such as Poppi, Olipop and Sparkling Water Brand Bubly are biased their products to a younger audience by qualifying their drinks as “bright, vibrant and fun, but also a bit functional,” Kuzma said.
That demographic group is “looking for something that is fun to drink, but that will not compromise its health goals,” he said.
A good old rivalry between Poppi and Olipop has also made some comparisons with Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi, or the wars of Beer Budweiser, Miller and Coors. The dispute reached a critical point recently, when Poppi launched a marketing campaign in which he sent vending machines full of his soft drinks to influential people, a violent reaction from the public and made fun of Olipop.
The controversy has been developed online, another nod to the interest of brands in younger consumers.
“I think Poppi and Olipop are very similar to Coca-Cola and Pepsi. They are shameless, they are young, they are social first, they like to get involved in [online] Cultural conversations and trends, “Kuzma said.
Canadian brands get soda with him
Both Poppi and Olipop are available for sale throughout Canada, but several Canadian companies have created their own prebiotic soft drinks as the category grows in popularity.
In Henderson Brewing Company in Toronto, co -founder Steve Himel wanted to create a drink inspired by the pop stores that frequented when he was a child in the 70s and 80 Prebiotic soda made completely with Canadian ingredients.
“That was the spirit of the craft beer movement in the first place: it’s about buying a local,” Himel said in an interview with CBC News. “It’s about, what are people doing in their community and how can you support them?”
Solly, he explained, attracts people who grew up drinking source soda but have left him for health reasons, and parents who want to keep drinks that are sweet but “measures” in the refrigerator for their children.
“The challenge for us has been trying to find a provincial or national distributor, such as a supermarket chain, so that they join and support Solly. [There is] a lot of competition. I think in Canada these products are still not tested in terms of their wide attraction, “he said.
Other brands of Canadian prebiotic soft drinks include those of the Buddha Buddha de Montreal and Kombucha Rise brands, which Rise, which, which inserted a intestine -centered beverage line called the best soda in 2023; The brands of Toronto Crazy D’A and Geez Louise, the last of which manufactures flavor water with prebiotic fibers; and Cove Soda, founded in Halifax, which says that their drinks are oriented to a “new generation of soft drinks.”
“Coca -Cola will be cheaper and will have thousands of times more distribution, so it gives them a great advantage,” said Himel. But he is not betting on the long -term success of the drinking giant in the prebiotic soda market.
“The consumer who is interested in this type of products, and is willing to pay a little more for them, will also be interested in a more ‘artisanal’ product,” he said.
Himel believes that craft soft drinks are also more likely to support small and local corporations, and the perspective of a commercial war with the United States has more people questioning the origin of the products they buy.
“Wow, it’s great that many consumers wake up and recognize that, he hears, we do products here and you are supporting people in your community when you buy them,” he said. “It feels great to be Canadian. It feels great to manufacture something here.”
