People ask if anyone has written about us. Yes. This page is a map of that coverage — with links to the original pieces. We do not reprint them. If a quote is here, it is short, and already on Why Sidekick.
We are a mum-and-son soda from Wānaka. The recipe sits on Nana’s shrub. Press is someone else looking in.
Forbes
Andrew Watman wrote the first Forbes feature on 31 October 2024: Sidekick Soda stands out as a fruit-filled, earth-conscious alternative. Fiona is quoted on wanting ingredients you would use at home. The line we use on the site: “Sidekick Soda is not a copycat — it’s a new, artisanal vision of what soda can be.”
A second Forbes piece, 12 March 2025, put honey-as-sweetener in the Expo West roundup: Honey as a sweetener. Sidekick is in that honey bucket, not a full profile.
Trend Hunter
November 2024: Health-conscious soda. Their line on the site: “A flavorful yet balanced alternative to traditional sodas.”
From Wānaka
The local one is Wānaka beverage on international shelves (Wānaka App). Mother-and-son, Fiona and Rogan, the shrub Fiona’s mum swore by, the work of taking it from medicinal-tasting to a drink people finish. That is the hometown piece.
Meet the makers
Naturally Good (Australia) ran It helps to have a good Sidekick. That is where the 1970s Auckland shrub story is told in Fiona’s words — mum, honey, fruit, vinegar. We do not repeat health claims from that interview. The drink is soda.
Inside FMCG, 16 January 2024: Kiwi brand Sidekick Soda makes a splash.
Awards, not ads
Cherry was a 2025 Startup CPG Shelfie Awards finalist in Beverages, from over 1,800 entries. Finalist, not winner. The list is on startupcpg.com.
Fiona’s Damson Collection titles (World’s Best Fruit Liqueur, 2020) are her earlier drinks work. They are not Sidekick medals. They are why the recipe did not start from a blank spreadsheet.
Company announcements
BevNET ran a 2024 newswire on entering the US market. That is our announcement, not independent editorial. Link: Sidekick Soda enters the U.S. market. Treat it as a press release.
Press enquiries
Interviews and features: use the press path on Contact. Fiona and Rogan still answer those.
