The honey-honey-sweetened, real-fruit, apple cider vinegar soda. No cane sugar. No stevia. No erythritol. Here's why people switch — and stay.
Sodakick was born from a problem most stevia-sweetened sodas refuse to solve.
Our co-founder Fiona is one of the millions of people who experience stevia as intensely bitter. So Fiona set out to build the soda her family would actually drink. Her son Rogan joined her, and Sodakick launched in 2023.
The recipe is a shrub: New Zealand Mānuka Honey, real fruit, apple cider vinegar, sparkling water. No cane sugar. No stevia. No erythritol. A family recipe, not a wellness drink.
In 2024, Sodakick entered the US market. Today, Sodakick is stocked by selected premium retailers.
— Fiona & Rogan, founders
The category has changed fast. Here's what actually matters when you're reading the back of a can.
Aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium are common in diet and "zero sugar" sodas. Many people prefer to avoid them.
Cheap, ubiquitous in regular soda, and the main reason a 12 fl oz can of regular cola has about 39g of sugar.
Erythritol and xylitol can cause bloating and GI issues for sensitive stomachs. Recent cardiovascular research is worth watching.
Phosphoric acid gives traditional cola its bite at a cost to enamel. Caramel color, Red 40, Yellow 5 — none of it needs to be there.
If you can't recognise most of what's on the back of the can, that's a signal.
Real juice or purée doing the heavy lifting. It's the difference between tasting fruit and tasting fruit-flavored.
We don't chase 0g sugar with stevia or erythritol. Sodakick is sweetened with New Zealand Mānuka Honey and real fruit — 11–14g sugar per 12 fl oz can, depending on flavor.
Honey, real fruit, a small amount of cane sugar. Stevia and monk fruit are common but divisive — some people taste them as bitter or chemical.
Adds a clean, grown-up bite without phosphoric acid. Increasingly common in better sodas for good reason.
If you can't pronounce half of it, the soda is doing too much.
Sodakick is built around these principles. Real fruit, New Zealand Mānuka Honey, apple cider vinegar, sparkling water. Nine ingredients, all recognizable.
Built on New Zealand Mānuka Honey, real fruit, apple cider vinegar, and sparkling water.
Not all sodas are created equal. Here's what sets us apart from the rest.
Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners on earth. It tastes like real food because it is real food. We use New Zealand Mānuka Honey — complex enough to carry flavor without aftertaste.
Every Sodakick flavor is built on real fruit juice and purée. You can taste the difference. So can your kids.
Traditional sodas use phosphoric acid for that sharp finish. We use apple cider vinegar instead — small enough that you don't taste it as vinegar, present enough to give Sodakick a clean, adult edge.
Up to a third of people experience stevia as intensely bitter or metallic — it's a real genetic difference in how taste receptors process certain stevia compounds. Our co-founder Fiona is one of them. That's why Sodakick exists.
Sorted by the four things people tell us most often.
October 31, 2024Sidekick Soda is not a copycat — it's a new, artisanal vision of what soda can be.Read article: Sidekick Soda Stands Out As A Fruit-Filled, Earth-Conscious Alternative In An Increasingly Crowded Soda Market
March 12, 2025Featured by Forbes at Expo West 2025 for its use of New Zealand Mānuka Honey as a natural sweetener.Read article: Expo West 2025: Honey as a Sweetener, Jerky as a Protein Source
November 2024A flavorful yet balanced alternative to traditional sodas.Read article: Health-Conscious Soda
Press mention: global expansion and premium retail positioning.Read article: Kiwi brand Sidekick Soda makes a splash in the global beverage market
2024Press release — company announcement, not independent editorial.Read article: Sidekick Soda enters U.S. market with exclusive launch in Erewhon
August 2025Selected from over 1,800 product entries, Sidekick Soda Cherry was named a finalist in the Beverages category of the 5th annual Startup CPG Shelfie Awards.Read article: Sidekick Cherry named a 2025 Shelfie Awards finalist
Sodakick was born from a problem most stevia-sweetened sodas refuse to solve.
Our co-founder Fiona is one of the millions of people who experience stevia as intensely bitter and chemical-tasting — a real genetic difference in how taste receptors process certain compounds in stevia leaf. For her, most stevia-sweetened sodas weren't disappointing. They were undrinkable.
So Fiona — already an award-winning drinks maker behind The Damson Collection, with World's Best Fruit Liqueur (2020) and back-to-back Best New Zealand Fruit Liqueur titles — set out to build the soda her family would actually drink. Her son Rogan joined her, and Sodakick launched in 2023.
The recipe: New Zealand Mānuka Honey, real fruit, apple cider vinegar, sparkling water. No cane sugar. No stevia. No erythritol.
Today, Sodakick is stocked across New Zealand and Australia, building a US store list, and Cherry was named a finalist in the Shelfie Awards by Startup CPG — Beverages, 2025.
Real fruit. Real honey. Real soda. The way it should be.
Real fruit, New Zealand Mānuka Honey, apple cider vinegar. A soda, for the people.
Sodakick is a honey-sweetened real-fruit soda from a New Zealand family recipe, made in the USA with New Zealand Mānuka Honey, real fruit and a splash of apple cider vinegar. No cane sugar. No stevia. No erythritol.
Neither. Honey and fruit still sweeten it. It is mixed and carbonated, not fermented. It is not a zero-sugar diet soda and not kombucha.
No. Sodakick is co-founded by Fiona Tomlinson and Rogan Tomlinson.
The US site is browse-only. Suggest a store we should pitch, or join the Kick List for stockist updates. Online checkout for 12-packs is on the New Zealand shop at sidekicksoda.co.nz.
No. It is soda. No gut, hormone, blood-sugar, or “healthy Coke” claims. Check the can for ingredients and nutrition.
