Ben Weiss Built Crooked Pop to Give Health-Minded Gen Z an Alcohol Option

# The idea Ben Weiss, who founded Bai, returned to the beverage business with Crooked Pop to address what he sees as a gap in the alcohol aisle for younger, health-minded drinkers. He told Brandweek that "the consumer who grew up drinking Poppi does not have a place to go in alcohol" and that many in that group are "becoming somewhat sober-curious."

# Product approach Crooked Pop is presented as a USDA-organic, zero-sugar, gluten-free alternative to the main alcohol formats on shelves: fermented-sugar-based hard seltzers and distilled ready-to-drink cocktails. Weiss chose to brew a new kind of alcohol he calls osava, using quinoa, amaranth, millet and cassava. His stated goals were twofold: create a super-clean alcohol that functions as a ferment rather than a spirit, and avoid reliance on sugars that are typical in hard seltzers.

Weiss explained why distillation was off the table: distilling would make Crooked Pop subject to excise taxes tied to spirits. By keeping the product as a ferment, he said, it stays outside that tax structure.

# Positioning and marketing

Early commercial tactics prioritize distribution and sampling where target consumers shop and gather. Grocery stores are a focus, and the brand is also targeting sports stadiums and live events to get trial at volume.

# Distribution and partnerships Crooked Pop has opened partnerships with professional athletes including Ryan Howard and Trae Young as part of its go-to-market plan. Weiss highlighted a stadium sampling result: Crooked Pop sold between three and four thousand cans at a recent Buccaneers game. He called that kind of event "a great sampling opportunity for a young brand in the alcohol space."

# Why this matters Current hard seltzers typically use fermented sugars to create a gluten-free malt alcohol base, while RTD cocktails tend to use distilled spirits and come at higher price points. Crooked Pop aims to sit between those categories by offering a brewed, low-sugar, organic option that preserves a ferment-based alcohol profile without becoming a spirit.

# Background context Weiss founded Bai, an antioxidant-infused flavored water brand built on coffee fruit, and sold it to Dr Pepper for $1.7 billion. He cites Bai's positioning and success as inspiration for attempting to disrupt the alcohol category again, this time with a product tailored to younger, health-oriented drinkers.

# What to watch next

• How retail chains and on-premise sellers categorize and place osava on shelf. Retail placement will shape consumer discovery.
• Whether sampling at stadiums and athlete partnerships convert to repeat sales and wider distribution.