By Laura Cooper

Sodas claiming to be good for the gut are taking off. Now, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are banking on them being good for the bottom line.

With traditional soda sales gone flat, both companies are jumping into the prebiotic soft-drink market now dominated by upstart brands Olipop and Poppi. Coke said Tuesday that it will launch a soda promoting digestive health, called Simply Pop, this month. Pepsi is formulating a version it aims to sell in the spring.

Sales of so-called gut pop are growing in the U.S. as more consumers shift from sugary soda mainstays to healthier, more natural alternatives. Combined U.S. retail sales of Olipop and Poppi were roughly $817 million in the 52 weeks ended Jan. 25, according to NielsenIQ data compiled by Goldman Sachs. Coke says the market for these specialty sodas could exceed $2 billion by 2029.

Prebiotic drinks are the latest beverages to proliferate on supermarket shelves with claims of supporting digestive health. Unlike probiotic products such as kombucha and kefir -- which introduce new microbes into the gut -- prebiotic sodas contain dietary fibers that feed the bacteria already living in our systems. Olipop and Poppi use inulin fiber, often naturally derived from agave or chicory roots.

The two startups have aggressively marketed gut pop into the zeitgeist. Poppi aired commercials during the Super Bowl in 2024 and 2025 and shipped vending machines full of Poppi to social-media influencers ahead of this year's big game. It has also struck a deal with Target to launch an apparel line that includes branded tube socks, hats and sweatshirts. Olipop, meanwhile, is available in 12,000 Starbucks locations across the country.

"I use this as an alternative to soda that I don't necessarily need to feel guilty about," said Cullen Biever, 29 years old, who drinks both Poppi and Olipop. He was lukewarm on the taste of prebiotic soda at first but says a desire to be more mindful of his diet encouraged him to try it again. He still drinks Diet Coke, he said, but as an occasional treat.

Becca Kerr, chief executive of Coke's nutrition unit, said her team spent nearly a year conducting market research with consumers and formulating the gut-focused soda. Simply Pop, which piggybacks off Coke's Simply juice product line, boasts 25% to 30% real juice, six grams of prebiotic fiber, along with vitamin C and zinc.

"No matter what was happening, consumers said, 'This has to taste good, '" Kerr said. The Simply Pop drinks are expected to be at retailers at the end of February in strawberry, pineapple mango, fruit punch, lime and citrus punch flavors.

It is uncertain what actual health benefits prebiotic soft drinks deliver, nutrition experts say, and plenty of foods -- including garlic, onions, grains and certain fruits like bananas -- are naturally loaded with prebiotics.

Still in most cases, "gut pop" is preferable to drinking a soda loaded with sugar, said Dr. Sean Spencer, a gastroenterologist at Stanford University.

"If consuming one of these leads you to have less sugar in your diet, then that is a good thing," he said.

The exception may be people with gastrointestinal issues such as irritable bowel syndrome. Inulin can trigger increased bloating, cramping, and cause irregular bowel patterns in people with IBS, said Jamie Allers, a registered dietitian at the Hartford HealthCare Digestive Health Center in Bloomfield, Conn.

Allers has advised most patients asking about prebiotic sodas to eat foods that are naturally rich in prebiotics.

"Getting variety in your diet is important for digestive health -- not just putting all of your eggs in one basket and thinking it's the magic ticket," she said.

For Coke and Pepsi, prebiotic sodas are part of the strategy to find new growth in beverages. U.S. retail sales of traditional soft drinks including Coke, Pepsi and Dr Pepper were down roughly 1% in the 52 weeks ended Jan. 11, according to NielsenIQ data from Goldman Sachs.

Olipop co-founder and Chief Executive Ben Goodwin said he isn't concerned that bigger players like Coke and Pepsi will overcrowd the gut-pop market. Last week, Olipop closed on a $50 million Series C funding round led by JP Morgan Private Capital's growth equity group, raising its valuation to about $1.85 billion. The company said it would invest the additional capital in the development and marketing of its existing products.

"We created this base camp, and now everyone has landed there," Goodwin said.

Write to Laura Cooper at laura.cooper@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2025 08:00 ET (13:00 GMT)

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