From Shark Tank to Super Bowl - the story of America's fastest growing beverage (Poppi) with Allison Ellsworth

In this episode I'm joined by Allison Ellsworth, founder of the fastest growing beverage brand in the US, Poppi.Poppi was started as Mother Beverage in 2018 (a nod to the raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar used in the drink) but was rebranded after featuring on Shark Tank in the same year. Now, it's one of the biggest soda brands in the US, outselling Coke and Pepsi on Amazon. I speak to Allison about the journey of creating the brand, how influential TikTok was for their growth, their merch strategy and how they ended up buying a Super Bowl ad. This is a fascinating account of how a challenger brand can disrupt an industry in such a small period of time.Timestamps00:00 - Intro02:08 - Allison’s experience on Shark Tank05:56 - Funding and rebrand of Poppi10:36 - Launching the brand during COVID11:06 - Outselling Coke and Pepsi on Amazon12:33 - How big is the impact of Shark Tank13:45 - Growing the brand on social media17:02 - The influencer and social first marketing strategy19:45 - How Poppi’s marketing popup worked22:05 - Why Poppi invested in merch and launching in Target24:36 - Choosing which flavours to launch with Poppi28:04 - Approach to retail and growth29:27 - Breaking into a competitive market30:29 - Poppi’s Super Bowl campaign35:30 - The journey from 2 to 200 employees40:18 - How Allison hires at Poppi42:05 - The hardest part of the journey at Poppi44:07 - How Allison would start a new startup today