March 12, 2025Expo West 2025: Honey as a Sweetener, Jerky as a Protein Source
Featured at Expo West 2025 for innovative use of multi-floral New Zealand honey as a natural sweetener.
Why Sidekick
The honey-sweetened, real-fruit, apple cider vinegar soda. Less sugar than regular soda, none of the artificial sweeteners. Here's why people switch — and stay.
Most "healthy" sodas didn't work for our family. Stevia tasted bitter and chemical. Diet sodas were undrinkable. The sodas that called themselves natural were still sweetened with cane sugar and stevia, just dressed up.
So we made our own — sweetened with New Zealand honey, made with real fruit, with a kick of apple cider vinegar. No stevia. No artificial sweeteners. No cane sugar.
If that sounds like the soda you've been looking for, we made it for you.
— Fiona & Rogan, founders
What to look for in a better-for-you soda
The category has changed fast. Here's what actually matters when you're reading the back of a can.
What to avoid
- Artificial sweeteners
Aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium are common in diet and "zero sugar" sodas. Many people prefer to avoid them.
- High-fructose corn syrup
Cheap, ubiquitous in regular soda, and the main reason a regular can has 27g+ of sugar.
- Sugar alcohols
Erythritol and xylitol can cause bloating and GI issues for sensitive stomachs. Recent cardiovascular research is worth watching.
- Phosphoric acid and artificial colours
Phosphoric acid gives traditional cola its bite at a cost to enamel. Caramel colour, Red 40, Yellow 5 — none of it needs to be there.
- Vague "natural flavours"
A catch-all phrase. The cleanest sodas name the actual fruit.
What to look for
- Real fruit
Real juice or purée, not "natural flavour." It's the difference between tasting fruit and tasting fruit-flavoured.
- A naturally low sugar count
Under 10g per can is the editorial benchmark most BFY guides now use. Lower is better — but not at the cost of artificial sweeteners.
- Sweeteners you'd recognise
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.
- Apple cider vinegar
Adds a clean, grown-up bite without phosphoric acid. Increasingly common in better sodas for good reason.
- A short, readable ingredient list
If you can't pronounce half of it, the soda is doing too much.
Sidekick is built around these principles. Real fruit, New Zealand honey, apple cider vinegar, sparkling water. Nine ingredients, all recognisable.
What's never in Sidekick
- No high-fructose corn syrup
- No aspartame, sucralose, or acesulfame potassium
- No erythritol or sugar alcohols
- No artificial colours or dyes
- No phosphoric acid
- No synthetic caffeine
- No "natural flavours" as a catch-all
- No proprietary blends or fibre supplements
Just New Zealand honey, real fruit, apple cider vinegar, and sparkling water.
Why Sidekick is different
Not all sodas are created equal. Here's what sets us apart from the rest.
Sweetened with New Zealand honey
Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners on earth. It tastes like real food because it is real food. We use multi-floral New Zealand honey — gentler than manuka, complex enough to carry flavour without aftertaste.
Real fruit, not "natural flavour"
Most sodas — even the new wave of better-for-you brands — list "natural flavours" on the back. We use real fruit juice and purée. You can taste the difference. So can your kids.
Apple cider vinegar for grown-up bite
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 Sidekick a clean, adult edge.
No stevia. No exceptions.
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 Sidekick exists.
How Sidekick stacks up
We weren't going to make claims without showing the work. Here's how Sidekick compares to other better-for-you sodas — head to head on sugar, sweeteners, ingredients, and what we leave out.
| Attribute | Sidekick Soda | Prebiotic Soda | ACV Soda | Kombucha |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What's in it | ||||
| Sweetened with | New Zealand honey + real fruit | Cane sugar + stevia | Cane sugar + stevia | Cane sugar (fermented) |
| Sugar (per 250ml) | ~9g | 1–6g | ~3g | 2–8g |
| Calories (per 250ml) | ~45 | 25–35 | ~18 | 15–50 |
| Clean label | ||||
| Honey-sweetened ⓘ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Real fruit (not "natural flavours") | ✓ | Some | Some | ✗ |
| No artificial sweeteners | ✓ | Varies | Varies | ✓ |
| Drink experience | ||||
| Apple cider vinegar | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Caffeine-free | ✓ | Varies | Varies | ✗ |
| Consistent taste, not fermented | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
Values per 250ml — Sidekick's standard can size. Competitor values are typical for each category; specific products vary. Prebiotic sodas, ACV sodas, and kombuchas are typically sold in 330–473ml formats.
What our customers say
Sorted by the four things people tell us most often.
Refreshing, not too sweet
- Very enjoyable and not too sweet. Refreshing without being too heavy in flavour.
- Loved this soda. The flavour wasn't overpowering, it was just right and was quite refreshing to drink.
- This was so good! Not too sweet, very refreshing and lovely flavour.
- Tasted just like a fresh pear, refreshing and not too sweet.
- Nice and light, not sickly sweet.
- Great flavour. Not too sweet and perfectly balanced with honey.
No weird sweetener aftertaste
- I'm picky with sweeteners and this one is great. No weird aftertaste.
- So good! Doesn't have that weird sweetener aftertaste.
- There was no aftertaste, it's easy on the stomach, the flavour was bursting.
- Love that it's sweetened with honey, not artificial sweeteners.
- Delicious! Love the flavour, as I hate stevia or sugar replacements that leave an awful taste in your mouth afterwards. The honey sweetener is great.
Tastes like real fruit
- Tastes like real fruit, not like fake flavouring.
- I loved the real fruit puree added — like you have just picked the fruit to drink.
- This was a big hit… it was only sweetened with honey and tasted natural.
- Love that these sodas are NZ made, use real fruit, New Zealand honey and organic apple cider vinegar.
- Really liked the real fruit flavour.
- Had the pear, it was yum. Not too sweet and tastes really natural.
Low sugar without tasting like diet
- Finally a low sugar-ish soda that doesn't taste like diet.
- Really like the concept of this drink being a healthier alternative while still tasting great.
- Love the burst of flavour… a healthier version of a soda without losing the taste.
- Great to have a healthy soda not full of sugar.
- Loved the flavour and the low sugar content, a treat without guilt.
- Have been looking for a fizzy drink alternative that is lower sugar but can't stand most artificial sweeteners. This was a winner.
Awards and impact
Silver Medal Winner
Outstanding Food Producer Awards 2025
4.98★Average rating from 1,131 verified customer reviews.
100%Real ingredients. New Zealand honey, real fruit, apple cider vinegar, and sparkling water.
Press coverage
March 12, 2025
July 2, 2024Is there really such a thing as a healthy soda?
Sidekick Soda named among better-for-you soda brands leading the healthy beverage movement.
October 31, 2024Sidekick Soda Stands Out as a Fruit-Filled, Earth-Conscious Alternative
Sidekick Soda is not a copycat — it's a new, artisanal vision of what soda can be.
Our story
Sidekick was born from a problem most healthy 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 "healthy" 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 Sidekick launched in 2024.
The recipe: New Zealand honey, real fruit, apple cider vinegar, sparkling water. No stevia. No cane sugar. No artificial anything.
A year later, Sidekick is on the shelves at Erewhon in Los Angeles, stocked across New Zealand and Australia, and a Silver Medal winner at the 2025 Outstanding Food Producer Awards.
Real fruit. Real honey. Real soda. The way it should be.