Latin American CPG portfolio company Beliv is continuing its U.S. expansion, this time with a new in-house brand targeting the emerging functional soda category: Mighty Pop.
Mighty Pop – a line of 12 oz. better-for-you functional sodas – was initially announced this past March at Natural Products Expo West 2023 and is now rolling out to stores nationwide and online. Each can contains 3 grams of sugar from agave, 3 grams of prebiotic fiber and 1 billion CFUs of live probiotic culture. Available in Orange Vanilla, Strawberry Hibiscus, Berry Lime and Pineapple Grapefruit, the drinks are currently sold on Amazon for $32.99 per 12-pack ($2.99 per can in retail) and are hitting retail in Southern California and Texas through stores such as Giant and Erewhon.
According to Alexis Korman, co-founder of Big Easy Bucha and VP of marketing for that brand – which Beliv acquired in 2021 – and Mighty Pop, the new brand aims to differentiate itself from the glut of gut health-supporting functional sodas on the market through its positioning as an organic- and Kosher-certified product and its inclusion of what it calls the “Mighty Three” of pre-, pro- and postbiotics. Comparatively, most gut-friendly soda brands focus on either prebiotics (Poppi, Olipop) or probiotics (Culture Pop, Humm) with even fewer offering postbiotics, bioactive compounds produced when probiotic bacteria breaks down prebiotic fibers.
As numerous kombucha and other functional beverage brands have entered the gut health soda category over the past few years, take Humm and Cove as examples, Korman told BevNET that Beliv’s acquisition of Big Easy similarly opened up the drawing board for the company to expand its offerings in the gut health beverage segment.
“We’re seeing the evolution of the consumer where this discussion of the microbiome is moving to a much more mainstream consumer,” Korman said. “So Mighty Pop fits into the strategy of innovation and entrepreneurship and focusing in on health and wellness trends that really are making a difference right now in the market.”
Mighty Pop was developed and incubated by Beliv, which sells beverages in 35 countries and only recently began focusing on the U.S. market in 2021 with its purchase of Big Easy. As part of its U.S. strategy, the company acquired a majority stake in cold brew coffee brand High Brew this summer and it also owns plant-based energy drink brand OCA.
In September, former Anheuser-Busch InBev Beyond Beer senior director of innovation Rodrigo Azambuja joined the company as president of Beliv, U.S. overseeing the entire portfolio. Former High Brew SVP of national accounts Ryan Della Penna is now serving as EVP of sales and Reinaldo Padua, formerly head of marketing at The Coca-Cola Company, serves as chief brand officer.
Korman said that Beliv’s U.S. business unit, although still young, is “nimble and growing really fast” by taking an entrepreneurial approach to its individual portfolio brands. Korman herself will continue to work on Big Easy while also steering Mighty Pop, although she noted the brands operate independently from one another. She pointed to Beliv’s market insights and retail connections as helping to support the entrepreneurial brands in its portfolio.
Mighty Pop is now available in Giant Food locations and this month added Erewhon stores in California. The brand is being distributed through UNFI and KeHE and Korman said additional distribution gains will be announced in Q1 2024. The business is also looking to add DSD distribution houses in order to expand in the conventional channel, however the natural channel will be the brand’s key priority moving forward.
“This is a really fun and an exciting time for us to be out there and participating [in the functional soda category] trying to provide something that isn’t necessarily a replacement, but it’s something that is incremental to this growing state,” she said.