Rockaway Soda

What Rockaway Soda does

Rockaway Soda (legal entity Rockaway Drinks LLC) is a privately held, founder-led craft beverage company headquartered at 238 Beach 132nd Street in Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY, founded in 2020 by Bridget C. Firtle. The company produces and sells packaged sodas made from real fruit, herbs, sea salt, and adaptogenic ingredients (including maca, ginseng, ashwagandha, valerian root, and tulsi), formulated to deliver only 7g of organic cane sugar per can. Its core portfolio comprises five flavored SKUs — Berry-Hibiscus, Lemon-Lemongrass, Watermelon Guava, Pineapple Ginger, and Lime-Mint — sold as 12-packs at $35.99 (approximately $2.99 per can), plus a Combo Pack variety option. The company donates 1% of all sales to ocean conservation via a partnership with the Surfrider Foundation and 1% for the Planet.

Rockaway generates revenue through two primary channels: direct-to-consumer e-commerce on its Shopify-hosted drinkrockaway.com site (with free US shipping), and physical retail distribution across the NYC metro area — including over 250 independent stores, natural food retailers, coffee shops, and regional chains such as Stop & Shop, Fairway, ShopRite, KeyFood, CTown, Westside Market, Gourmet Garage, and DeCiccos — with stated expansion plans in the tri-state area. Its target customers are health-conscious better-for-you soda consumers and the NYC/surf/skate/ocean advocacy community, served through a community-driven marketing model that combines organic social (Instagram), content marketing (blog, Rockaway Radio Spotify playlists), email, event sponsorships, and earned media with local NYC artists. Operationally the company remains bootstrapped with no disclosed venture capital, acquisitions, or material leadership changes.

Name

Rockaway Soda

Legal name

Rockaway Drinks LLC

Website

https://drinkrockaway.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Rockaway Soda is a privately held, founder-led Queens-based craft beverage company producing plant-powered, adaptogen-infused sodas (five flavored SKUs at 7g sugar per can) sold DTC online and through 250+ NYC metro retailers, targeting health-conscious consumers and the surf/skate/ocean advocacy community while donating 1% of sales to ocean conservation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Functional Beverages

NAICS

Soft Drink Manufacturing (312111)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Non-Carbonated Soft Drinks (Juice Drinks, Lemonades, Fruit Drinks) (CRADAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Functional Beverages (Vitamins, Probiotics, Nootropics, etc.) (CRADAHAL)

Keywords

• Plant-powered soda
• Functional beverages
• Craft soft drinks
• Adaptogen soda
• Low-sugar carbonated drinks

Headquarters

HQ city

Queens

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Direct-to-Consumer Online Sales: Products sold directly through their e-commerce website drinkrockaway.com. Main product is 12-pack cans at $35.99. Free shipping on all US orders.
2. Retail Distribution: Products sold through independent retailers, natural food stores, and regional grocery chains including Stop & Shop, Fairway, ShopRite, KeyFood, CTown, Westside Market, Gourmet Garage, and DeCiccos. Over 250 stores in the NYC metro area.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Rockaway Soda produces and sells packaged plant-powered sodas made with real fruit, organic cane sugar (only 7g per can), adaptogenic herbs, and sea salt. The portfolio includes five flavored SKUs (Berry Hibiscus, Lemon Lemongrass, Watermelon Guava, Pineapple Ginger, Lime Mint) plus a Combo Pack variety, sold as 12-packs at $35.99 to consumers via its DTC Shopify website and through 250+ retail stores in the NYC metro area.

Product overview

Rockaway Soda is a line of healthier, great-tasting plant-powered sodas made from real ingredients. The product portfolio consists of five distinct flavored sodas (Berry Hibiscus, Lemon Lemongrass, Watermelon Guava, Pineapple Ginger, and Lime Mint) plus a Combo Pack variety option. All products are sold as 12-packs ($35.99, approximately $2.99 per can) and are characterized by being made with real fruit, real sugar (7g of organic cane sugar), and sea salt. The company donates 1% of all sales to ocean conservation via the Surfrider Foundation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 250 stores in NYC metro area
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• UnderCurrentminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 September 2021Immersive art exhibition examining climate change featuring artists like Bon Iver, Miguel, Grimes. Rockaway was exclusive non-alcoholic beverage sponsor for the September 9 - October 3, 2021 Brooklyn event.
• Surfrider FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit partner dedicated to ocean protection, beach access, coastal preservation and clean water. Rockaway donates 1% of all sales to support Surfrider's mission.
• 1% for the PlanetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMembership organization connecting consumers and businesses to environmental nonprofits. Led Rockaway to partner with Surfrider Foundation.
• Rise (Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability & Equity)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Rockaway organization organizing Rockaway Market Street farmers market since 2016. Rockaway participates as a vendor promoting local produce and their products.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationE-commerce platform hosting their online store. Provides the technology infrastructure for online sales.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• LaCroix: LaCroix (National Beverage Corp.) is the dominant mainstream flavored sparkling water brand in US grocery. It competes with Rockaway for at-home sparkling hydration occasions and shelf space, representing the incumbent alternative consumers might pick instead of a craft functional soda.
• Vitaminwater (Glacéau): Vitaminwater (owned by Coca-Cola) is a flavored, fortified functional beverage sold nationally in convenience, grocery, and foodservice. It competes with Rockaway for the same 'functional hydration' occasion but as a mass-market incumbent with vastly larger distribution and marketing budgets.

Direct peers

• Health-Ade Kombucha: Health-Ade is a premium functional beverage brand (kombucha) distributed nationally through natural and conventional grocery. It shares Rockaway's better-for-you functional positioning, premium pricing, and reliance on independent/natural channel retail for early traction.
• Reed's Inc. Reed's produces craft ginger beer and other flavored craft sodas in cans and bottles, distributed through natural, specialty, and mainstream grocery. It overlaps Rockaway on craft soda category, premium positioning, and natural-channel go-to-market.
• Poppi: Poppi is a prebiotic soda brand sold in multi-pack cans with a fruit-forward, low-sugar formulation. It competes head-to-head with Rockaway on shelf, on social, and in DTC, targeting the same health-conscious soda-replacement consumer with similar pricing architecture.
• Olipop: Olipop is a venture-backed functional soda brand positioned around prebiotics, botanicals, and low sugar. It is the most direct comparable to Rockaway: same product format (12-pack cans), same better-for-you soda positioning, same DTC-plus-retail GTM, and a similar flavor portfolio of fruit-forward functional SKUs.
• Jones Soda: Jones Soda is a craft soda brand sold in multi-pack cans with rotating, unconventional flavors and a strong indie/lifestyle brand identity. It is comparable to Rockaway as a smaller, independently-positioned craft soda competing against CPG incumbents.
• Spindrift: Spindrift is a sparkling water made with real squeezed fruit, sold in multi-pack cans and bottles across DTC, grocery, and foodservice. Like Rockaway, it leans on a 'real fruit, real ingredients' positioning and uses NYC-area retail and DTC as a primary growth channel.

Emerging players

• Culture Pop: Culture Pop is a smaller functional soda brand built around probiotics and bold fruit flavors. It overlaps Rockaway on product category, target consumer, and channel mix (DTC plus natural/indie retail), but at a smaller scale.
• De La Calle Tepache: De La Calle is a craft probiotic/adaptogenic soda brand using traditional Latin American bases (tepache) with herbs and real fruit. It is comparable to Rockaway on the adaptogenic, real-fruit, low-sugar functional soda thesis and indie-natural retail footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/drinkrockaway
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rockaway Soda