2025 was the year the beverage and CPG industry stopped being able to blame external disruption for structural problems. The data was clear, the consumer had changed, and the brands that acted on that clarity built something durable. Here is what the year produced.

Poppi was turned down on Shark Tank, nearly ran out of money, and spent years building in a category nobody believed in. Then PepsiCo paid $1.95 billion for it. The story of how it got there is one of the most instructive brand building narratives in recent beverage history.