Poppi — founded 2018 by Allison and Stephen Ellsworth. $500M+ 2024 revenue. Acquired by PepsiCo May 2025 for $1.95B. EPR's canonical Poppi reference and the LaForce / Magrino agency record.
Liquid Death — $1.4B. Olipop — $1.85B. Poppi — $1.95B PepsiCo exit. Three challenger beverages built billion-dollar valuations on three different digital PR machines. The tool-by-tool breakdown of how each one outflanked the soda incumbents.
The CPG shelf moved. The AI shelf is the shortlist a consumer receives when asking ChatGPT for category recommendations. The CPG Citation Stack, why NYT Food and Wirecutter set the anchor, why Reddit and Costco's community won CPG, and the brands competing well.
Liquid Death — $1.4B. Olipop — $1.85B. Poppi — $1.95B PepsiCo exit. Three challenger beverages built billion-dollar valuations on three different digital PR machines. The tool-by-tool breakdown of how each one outflanked the soda incumbents.
CPG PR playbook — what Liquid Death, Olipop, Poppi, Magic Spoon, and Athletic Brewing actually did to build category leadership, plus where CPG PR breaks in the AI-recommendation era.