Major M&A deals this year (read: Poppi and Health-Ade) provided plenty of conversation fodder during day one of BevNET Live Winter 2025 in Marina Del Rey, Calif. as leaders of the respective businesses took a moment to share how they steered their brands to an exit. The annual beverage industry conference opened with Poppi co-founders Stephen and Allison Ellsworth – fresh off their $1.95 billion exit to PepsiCo – sitting down to reflect on the brand’s relatively fast M&A process, what they believe they could have done better, and how they “moved at the speed of culture” to penetrate the mainstream. Allison Ellsworth said being digital first and capitalizing on the “wild wild west” early days of TikTok marketing helped the brand to “build community everywhere,” rather than just in key markets like New York and L.A. “I think our best Target [store] was, like, Fargo, North Dakota, for the first three years of business,” Allison Ellsworth said. “The social community allowed us to grow.” Stephen Ellsworth noted that early celebrity collaborations, such as a partnership with Jennifer Lopez, surprised the company when it fell flat due to a lack of an authentic connection between the influencer and the brand. “It didn't seem natural,” he said. “We didn't gain a follower. [There was] no spike in revenue and it was too much of a mismatch. People were deaf to it.” The former leadership team of Health-Ade Kombucha, which sold to Generous Brands in July, also sat down for a panel discussion about how they prepared the business for an exit and how former CEO Chris Lansing worked with the brand’s board to execute swiftly and cleanly. Lansing said when she joined Health-Ade as CEO in 2022, she knew that having trust and an open rapport with investors (and fellow panelists Steve Young and Bob Nakasone) was important to ensuring they could secure the brand’s success. “Both Bob and Steve are operators by background, and not just financial people having conversations, but people who could really engage in strategy and have collaborative conversations,” she said. The conference featured no shortage of discussion covering investment trends, startup strategy and the ongoing issues in the space from a looming hemp ban to rising costs. Read the full recap on BevNET. 📺 Tune into the livestream here for more of BevNET Live Day Two today. | 
