Poppi Founders Back Jetty, a $2.5 Million Bet Against Gatorade

Allison and Stephen Ellsworth, who sold Poppi to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion in 2025, are spending $2.5 million of their own money to challenge PepsiCo's Gatorade. Their new hydration brand, Jetty, hits Whole Foods shelves Monday, with online sales through Target and Amazon.

Gatorade controls roughly 60% of the U.S. sports drink market, according to Numerator data. Jetty is self-funded and small. The Ellsworths say the mismatch does not matter.

Who is Jetty actually for?

Jetty targets everyday hydration, not post-workout recovery. Each 15.2-ounce bottle or 15-gram packet contains 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. A 20-ounce Gatorade Thirst Quencher carries about 270 milligrams of sodium, 80 milligrams of potassium and 34 grams of sugar, though Gatorade is phasing out artificial colors and pushing lower-sugar versions.

"No one has really created a product for just everyday hydration — literally everyday hydration for normal people," Allison Ellsworth, Jetty's chief brand officer, told CNBC. "Like I woke up this morning, I didn't run a marathon."

The brand has a personal origin. After the Poppi sale, Ellsworth stayed on as an advisor but left day-to-day operations. She visited a doctor for the first time in a decade, started a GLP-1 medication and lost 60 pounds. Her husband, Stephen, now Jetty's CEO, noticed she stopped hydrating even after the gym.

GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro suppress thirst, while hydration can ease side effects like nausea and headaches. "I physically struggle getting liquid into my body," Ellsworth said. About 44% of GLP-1 users report drinking more functional beverages, according to EY-Parthenon's survey of more than 3,600 current or former users.

The target audience is broader than patients. "Our core audience is going to be millennial moms and Gen Z," Ellsworth said. "Gen Z just isn't relating to these old school brands, the legacy of the Gatorades and the Powerades. They're just not cool."

How big is the hydration prize?

Dollar sales of hydration and electrolyte products rose 20% to $2.6 billion in the 52 weeks ended Oct. 4, per SPINS data on new UPCs, with a 62% repeat buyer rate. But new items with at least $10,000 in annual sales have jumped 41% in two years — the crowd is growing as fast as the category.

Incumbents are moving too. Kraft Heinz launched electrolyte Capri Sun pouches and Kool-Aid packets this spring. Pepsi overhauled Gatorade in April around occasions like a "fresh morning start." Electrolit grew retail sales 40% for Keurig Dr Pepper in the third quarter.

The ready-to-drink market Jetty is entering is shrinking: sports drink unit sales fell 9.1% from 2022 to 2026, per Numerator, and Coca-Cola wrote down BodyArmor by more than $1.7 billion after paying $5.6 billion for control in late 2021. "Me and my husband know how to do RTD," Ellsworth said.

What did Poppi teach them?

Poppi's performance under PepsiCo has been underwhelming. Pepsi now estimates the fair value of performance-based payments to Poppi's prior owners at $12 million — from a potential $300 million promised if Poppi hit targets by Q3 2027, per an October regulatory filing. The Ellsworths declined to comment on it.

"I don't think [Pepsi] gets it, but what they do get is that the movement is changing, and they think that just by taking dyes out or doing 90% less sugar, they're going to capture this audience," Ellsworth said. "But that is very big corporate thinking."

She also criticized Pepsi's Gen Z advertising across its portfolio, including Starry campaigns.

Legal risk gets explicit attention. Three claims lawyers signed off on Jetty's packaging, after Poppi paid $8.9 million to settle false-advertising litigation over "gut healthy" claims. Jetty launches in five flavors — watermelon, orange mango, fruit punch, black raspberry and white cherry — with no artificial sweeteners or dyes. A lemon-lime version, Gatorade's original flavor, is in development.

Ellsworth expects a funding round in 2027, likely from investors who are not traditional venture capitalists. Rather than a $15 million VC check, she said, Jetty would prefer a $1 million investor with celebrity access — "people that are invested in the brand."

Whether a $2.5 million self-funded launch can dent a 60% incumbent in a category flooding with newcomers is the question the Ellsworths' second act now has to answer.