PepsiCo (PEP) announced on Tuesday that its Prebiotic Cola is now available nationwide in stores and online. The food and beverage giant has described the product as the first prebiotic cola in the traditional cola set. The product is framed as delivering “unbelievably Pepsi” taste with no artificial sweeteners, 30 calories, 5 grams of sugar and 3 grams of prebiotic fiber per 12-ounce can. The national release features original and cherry vanilla varieties in both single 12-oz cans and 8-packs.
Notably, PepsiCo (PEP) is using Prebiotic Cola to extend its core blue-can brand into the same gut-health and modern soda territory already occupied by newer players such as Poppi and Olipop. The aim is to bring younger, health-oriented consumers back into the traditional Pepsi system. The launch follows PepsiCo’s (PEP) nearly $2 billion acquisition of Poppi in 2025 and slots alongside that brand, with Pepsi Prebiotic Cola offering slightly higher fiber per can than Poppi and being marketed as a major innovation in the cola category.
The prebiotic soda subcategory itself is relatively young, emerging in the late 2010s and early 2020s as brands like Poppi and Olipop repositioned soda as a “functional” beverage rather than a guilty-pleasure treat, using prebiotic fiber, natural flavors, and reduced sugar as the core value proposition. Market data for digestive health soft drinks in the U.S. show the segment more than doubling from roughly $197M in 2020 to more than $500M in 2025. Rival Coca-Cola (KO) is also in the category with Simply Pop, a prebiotic soft drink under the Simply Juice umbrella that is positioned against Olipop and Poppi and offers 6 grams of prebiotic fiber, vitamin C, zinc, and no added sugar.