Olipop is a soft drink produced in the United States. It is sold in over 25,000 stores in the United States[1] and the company had revenue of $100 million for the first half of 2023. The drink's marketing claims that it improves gut health.[2]
The brand name Olipop is a portmanteau of the prebiotic fiber named oligosaccharide (oli), and "pop", a common name for a soft drink in the United States.[3]
History
Background
Ben Goodwin started developing a soft drink after leaving a kombucha company in 2008.[3] He spent about $300,000 of his personal savings into the drink, working in a makeshift lab with a microbiologist. The probiotic soft drink, named Obi, was created by 2012.[3] In 2013 Goodwin met with David Lester in a coffee shop, who had previously quit his job.[3] The two agreed to partner together in making Obi.[3] In 2016 the two sold Obi for an undisclosed amount after it failed to gain traction.[3][4] They then went on to work on Olipop.[3]
Olipop
Olipop was founded in 2018 by Ben Goodwin and David Lester with an initial investment of $100,000, taken from the sale of Obi.[3] The drink was first released in three flavours: ginger lemon, strawberry vanilla and cinnamon cola.[3] It sold in 40 grocery stores in its first year, in Northern California, and reached $852,000 in gross revenue. They later became on sale in Target and Walmart stores.[3] The company gathered $2.5 million in seed funding in 2019.[3] As of April 2023[update], there were 12 Olipop flavors; in April 2024, there were 16 at Olipop's website.[5]
A series B funding round was carried out in 2022, which raised $39.7 million. Funders included Gwyneth Paltrow, Mindy Kaling, and the Jonas Brothers.[3] As of January 2023[update], Olipop raised a total of $55.4 million in funding.[5] Olipop reached $73.4 million in gross revenue in 2022,[3] a 223% year increase;[6] and it reached $100 million gross revenue in the first half of 2023.[3] According to Goodwin, sales of root beer Olipop has overtaken those of A&W.[5][6]
In 2022, Olipop created a banana cream flavor which was branded with Minions characters. The drink is still produced today, albeit without the Minion or Despicable Me branding attached to it. [7]
In 2024, Olipop collaborated with Mattel to create a new flavor themed around Barbie. The flavor was peaches and cream and the can sported a design showing different pieces of Barbie iconography.
Operations
As of September 2023[update], Olipop has over 100 employees. The workforce is remote.[3] Olipop offers a subscription which sends customers a box of drinks every few weeks.[8] Olipop sells exclusively to the United States and does not ship overseas.[3]
Flavors
OLIPOP has developed a variety of flavors, including classic options, innovative blends and fruity selections:
