Dive Brief:
- The co-founders of better-for-you soda Poppi, which was sold to PepsiCo for close to $2 billion last year, are trying their hand at another functional beverage market with a new hydration line.
- Allison and Stephen Ellsworth on Monday launched Jetty, a line of electrolyte powders and ready-to-drink hydration beverages. The drinks are designed for everyday hydration with ingredients including magnesium, prebiotics and B vitamins.
- Jetty wants to differentiate itself from other hydration drinks in the market by marketing itself for “everyday hydration,” as opposed to targeting athletes. It also wants to stand out from the pack by avoiding a high sodium count and artificial ingredients, the brand said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
Poppi helped pioneer the prebiotic soda movement that has led to an influx of competitors from Olipop to Slice. Now, the brand's founders want to replicate the same success in another fast-growing beverage category — hydration.
“Similar to Poppi, the idea behind jetty was born organically in solving a personal health issue that many people experience, but often overlook,” Allison Ellsworth, chief brand officer and co-founder, said in the release. “Like many Americans, I was suffering from chronic dehydration. I went to the grocery store and noticed every electrolyte drink I found was made for high-performance athletes, high in sodium, and full of artificial ingredients, and there was no brand I related to.”
Each serving has 100 milligrams of sodium, 310 milligrams of potassium, 100 milligrams of magnesium, B vitamins and prebiotics. Each bottle has 6 grams of sugar and 45 calories.
Jetty is available online via Target and Amazon and nationwide at Whole Foods. It will be offered in five flavors: watermelon, orange mango, fruit punch, black raspberry and white cherry.
More hydration brands are working to move away from the bright colors associated with traditional sports drinks while also adding new benefits that could help reach more than just athletes. Hydration stalwart Gatorade has worked to reformulate its portfolio without artificial colors as well as adding more electrolytes for enhanced hydration. Powerade has also built out its better-for-you hydration offerings with Power Water, an electrolyte-enhanced water that is flavored but without artificial colors.
While many consumers already carry water bottles and say that hydration is important, a survey from Liquid IV found that most Americans are less hydrated than they believe, and 33% drink less than five glasses of water a day.
