Poppi's founders take on PepsiCo's Gatorade with a new drink, Jetty

Allison and Stephen Ellsworth sold Poppi to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion in 2025. On Monday they went after another PepsiCo franchise. The couple's new brand, Jetty, hit shelves at Whole Foods stores nationwide and went on sale online at Target and Amazon, putting them in direct competition with Gatorade, which holds about 60% of the U.S. sports drink market, according to Numerator data cited by CNBC.

Jetty is pitched as everyday hydration rather than a sports drink. It comes as ready-to-drink bottles and electrolyte stick packs in five flavors: watermelon, orange mango, fruit punch, black raspberry and white cherry. Each 15.2-ounce bottle or 15-gram packet has 100 milligrams of sodium, 310 milligrams of potassium and 100 milligrams of magnesium, plus B vitamins, 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of sugar, with no artificial sweeteners or dyes, the founders say. A 20-ounce bottle of Gatorade Thirst Quencher, by comparison, has about 270 milligrams of sodium, 80 milligrams of potassium and 34 grams of sugar. Bottles sell for $2.49, Retail Brew reported.

Allison Ellsworth, Jetty's chief brand officer, told CNBC the brand is for ordinary days, not workouts. "Like I woke up this morning, I didn't run a marathon." Stephen Ellsworth is chief executive, the same split the couple used at Poppi.

The idea started with a personal problem. After Poppi's sale, Allison Ellsworth went to the doctor for the first time in a decade, started a GLP-1 medication and lost 60 pounds, she told CNBC. Drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro can make people less thirsty, and her husband noticed she was not hydrating even after the gym. About 44% of GLP-1 users report drinking more functional beverages, according to an EY-Parthenon survey of more than 3,600 current or former users. The founders also see a wider market of millennial moms and Gen Z shoppers who do not relate to legacy brands.

The category is growing even as traditional sports drinks shrink. Dollar sales of hydration and electrolyte products rose 20% to $2.6 billion over the 52 weeks ended Oct. 4, according to SPINS data. Unit sales of sports drinks fell 9.1% from 2022 to 2026, according to Numerator, and Coca-Cola has written down BodyArmor by more than $1.7 billion after buying control of it for $5.6 billion in late 2021. The giants are responding. PepsiCo overhauled Gatorade in April to reach more everyday occasions, Kraft Heinz added electrolytes to Capri Sun and Kool-Aid, and Keurig Dr Pepper's Electrolit grew retail sales 40% in the third quarter.

Ellsworth is openly skeptical of her former buyer. "I don't think [Pepsi] gets it," she told CNBC, arguing that removing dyes or cutting sugar alone will not win younger consumers. Poppi itself has been underwhelming under PepsiCo, CNBC reported. In an October filing, PepsiCo estimated the fair value of potential performance payments to Poppi's former owners at $12 million, against an additional $300 million promised at the time of the deal if Poppi hit targets by the third quarter of 2027. The Ellsworths declined to comment on the filing.

This launch is built differently. Jetty is self-funded with $2.5 million and will likely raise outside money in 2027, Ellsworth said, preferring smaller investors who bring access to talent over a large venture check. The company had 14 full-time employees before launch, including hires from Rare Beauty and Waterloo Sparkling Water, and built an org chart first, according to Retail Brew. Three claims lawyers reviewed Jetty's packaging, a lesson from Poppi's $8.9 million settlement of class-action claims over its gut-health marketing.

Distribution is wider from day one. Jetty will reach Target, Sprouts and Walmart stores next year, Retail Brew reported. At Target it will sit in the sports drink aisle next to Gatorade, and at Whole Foods, which does not carry Gatorade, it will sit with functional beverages. The couple is already working on a lemon-lime flavor, Gatorade's original.

Adweek noted the brand began when Stephen Ellsworth started mixing drinks for his wife at home. The question now is whether a second consumer brand can scale as fast as the first. Related coverage of the GLP-1 boom includes 1NFLUENC3's report on the FDA's new GLP-1 vision warning, and more deal news is in the Capital Sector.