Jones Soda enters functional beverage space with prebiotic drinks

Dive Brief:

• Jones Soda is entering the functional beverage category with Pop Jones, its all-natural prebiotic drink. The offering comes in five flavors — Cucumber Watermelon, Pineapple Ginger, Orange & Cream, Strawberry Passionfruit and Mixed Berry & Kiwi — with 30 calories per 12-ounce can. Pop Jones, which debuts next month, is shelf-stable.
• Pop Jones is sweetened with real fruit juice, pure cane sugar and natural stevia leaf extract. Jones estimated it contains half the added sugar of some functional brands and one-twentieth of a standard soda, while also having “a generous dose of fiber and immune support.”
• As people look to curtail their sugar intake, and increase their consumption of better-for-you products and items that contain functional ingredients, popular so-called healthier sodas have thrived. As a whole, the functional beverage market is forecast to reach $62 billion in 2027 from $50 billion in 2022. 

Dive Insight:

As one-time upstarts such as Poppi and Olipop have evolved into household staples seemingly overnight with their better-for-you soft drinks, existing beverages have noticed and responded with their own functional drinks to attract consumers looking for a healthier soda alternative.

Kombucha maker Health-Ade announced in February that it will launch a prebiotic soda called SunSip. Juice and functional beverage producer Suja Life plans to relaunch soda brand Slice next year as a better-for-you offering with gut health benefits. Now, Jones, which has stood out with unique flavors that Big Soda wouldn’t touch, including Blue Bubblegum, Pineapple Cream and Strawberry Lime, is the latest to enter the functional space.

“Functional beverages with cleaner ingredients and lower sugar content have created a new modern soda category that meets rising consumer demand for tastier and healthier food and beverage choices,” David Knight, CEO of Jones Soda, said in a statement. “With our nearly three decades of flavor innovation and broad brand recognition, Pop Jones is poised to become a major player in a space that is redefining soda.”

Jones’ small size and late entrance to the game versus other already entrenched brands likely means it’s going to be hard to grab meaningful market share despite the company’s upbeat tone. Still, as consumers look for more in the products they eat and drink and increasingly distance themselves from sugar, Jones had little choice but to launch a functional soda or watch consumers leave its brand in favor of one that already has. 

Jones has been aggressively moving its brand into other trendy categories. It has launched a beverage with added caffeine, a hard craft soda combining its pure cane sugar soda flavors with hard ciders and a zero sugar cola. It’s also entered the cannabis segment with its Mary Jones brand in select markets.