Poppi Founders Allison and Stephen Ellsworth Return With Jetty, a Hydration Brand

Allison and Stephen Ellsworth, the husband-and-wife founders of Poppi, are moving into the hydration category with a new brand called Jetty, BevNET reported. The venture marks the couple's return to the beverage industry following PepsiCo's acquisition of Poppi, and positions them in one of the most actively contested segments in functional beverages.

Public trademark filings linked to the brand suggest Jetty's product range could span electrolyte drinks, hydration powders, and supplement mixes. No official product lineup has been announced, and terms of the new venture have not been disclosed.

The hydration and electrolyte segment has attracted a wave of challenger entrants in recent years as consumers move away from legacy sports drinks toward functional, lower-sugar alternatives. Jetty's arrival would place it in a category with both established incumbents and a growing roster of founder-led brands competing on similar positioning.

Why it matters

The Ellsworths' return is significant because it follows a recognizable pattern in the better-for-you beverage space: identify a large incumbent category where consumer tastes are shifting, build a challenger brand with strong community marketing, and scale toward a strategic exit. Poppi demonstrated that a small brand could reframe an entire beverage aisle, and the hydration segment presents a comparable structural opportunity. Founder credibility is a finite but real asset in CPG, and the Ellsworths carry considerable name recognition into this launch. Their re-entry also signals that the Poppi playbook, combining functional positioning with personality-driven brand building, is likely to be applied again rather than retired.

What to watch

The most consequential open question is which retail partners Jetty targets first and whether it leans into direct-to-consumer channels before pursuing national shelf placement. The Ellsworths' distribution relationships and investor network from their Poppi years could accelerate placement conversations, but the hydration category is considerably more crowded today than the prebiotic soda segment was when Poppi first gained traction. How Jetty differentiates its formulation and price point will determine whether the founders can replicate their earlier trajectory in a far more competitive field.

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