Aldi's Olipop Soda Copycat Sounds Refreshing

One food trend in recent years has been that of "value-added" products, meaning those that try to tack on some type of nutritional benefit to a product that would otherwise not be too healthy. An example of this would be Vizzy, the vitamin-enhanced hard seltzer, while another is Olipop, a soda that contains prebiotics. While Olipop may seem like a soda fan's dream come true – a sweet, bubbly beverage that's actually good for you! –- it does come at a pretty steep price, with individual cans costing over $2.50. Despite the high price, Olipop is so popular that both Coke and Pepsi are interested in acquiring the company. An even better indicator of its success, however, might be the fact that this soda brand has now inspired an Aldi knockoff.

Aldi's VitaLife brand, it seems, is now producing a knockoff prebiotic soda of its own that comes in both root beer and strawberry vanilla soda varieties. It's not the cheapest beverage offered by the discount chain, but at under $2 a can it's certainly cheaper than the Olipop version. This isn't Aldi's first venture into value-added territory, as two years ago it came out with probiotic spritzers, but probiotics and prebiotics aren't the same thing at all. Prebiotics are all about the fiber, so these new sodas contain 9 grams of the stuff, along with just 5 grams of sugar.

No matter how healthy these sodas are, they're not going to do you much good if you can't bear to drink them. Luckily, the reviews so far are mostly giving them the thumbs-up. One Redditor claims that the root beer "Tastes like regular root beer soda," although another person said it wasn't quite as good as Olipop's. An Instagrammer, however, found it to have an odd tanginess and remarked that they wouldn't be purchasing it again.

Over on TikTok, one reviewer thought they detected a hint of apple cider vinegar in the root beer (that would explain the tang; though it might also be worth noting that the Olipop counterpart contains apple juice concentrate and lemon juice). Another reviewer rated this product seven stars out of 10 despite not being a big root beer fan. They gave VitaLife's strawberry vanilla soda an 11-star rating, saying, "She's that girl."

One caveat regarding these prebiotic sodas: If you're no fan of Stevia like food writer Kat Kinsman, be sure to check the ingredient label to see whether this ingredient is listed. We haven't been able to find the exact specs on the VitaLife versions, but Olipop does use this sweetener in its drinks.