A Pittsburgh-based spirits innovator is turning its popping boba patent into a functional nutrition platform. Unifying Spirits, creator of Boba POPS®, has named David Li, PhD, as Director of Research and Development, charging him with engineering popping pearls that deliver protein, caffeine, and dietary fiber — a deliberate pivot that extends the brand's core technology well beyond the cocktail occasion.
Li holds a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and dual bachelor's degrees in Mathematical Economics and Biochemistry from Wake Forest University, where he graduated cum laude. He previously rose to Director of Marketing at The Biotechnology and Life Sciences Advising (BALSA) Group, where he led market-sizing, competitive mapping, and growth strategy for clients across cell therapy, medical devices, and surgical imaging. He also served as an associate with Oracle's Life Sciences Solutions group — a profile that blends laboratory credibility with commercial execution.
The Technology Angle
The expansion is grounded in a process Unifying Spirits already owns. The company developed and patented the fill method that keeps its popping pearls shelf-stable inside finished drinks — the same engineering that allows a pearl to carry spirits intact. According to the company, that infrastructure can be redirected to encapsulate functional ingredients, making the leap from alcohol delivery to nutrient delivery a manufacturing extension rather than a ground-up innovation. Li is also working on new technology that keeps differently flavored pearls distinct within a single drink, a capability that could underpin multi-functional SKUs down the road.
"Good science and good business don't always live under the same roof," Li said. "Boba POPS® gives me a proven, patented product to build on, and I'm excited to take it far beyond the cocktail glass."
Three High-Growth Targets
The functional pipeline is organized around three categories that have drawn significant retail and investment attention. Protein-filled pearls will target fitness and wellness consumers in a high-protein RTD segment the company projects will grow roughly 10% annually through 2033. Caffeinated pearls are designed to ride a global caffeinated beverage market the release values at $92 billion in 2026. Fiber- and probiotic-enriched pearls address gut health, a segment whose commercial velocity was signaled by PepsiCo's $1.95 billion acquisition of Poppi in 2025.
For operators in the beverage industry tracking functional innovation, the Boba POPS move illustrates how proprietary encapsulation tech developed for one category can be repositioned across the fastest-growing verticals in food and beverage. Experimentation on the functional lines began this quarter.
Boba POPS® is currently distributed through more than 6,000 retail doors across 45 states, with stockists including ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Kroger, and Albertsons. The brand has also extended into a Pop & Go™ RTD cocktail line. Harmon Rozycki, COO of Unifying Spirits, framed Li's hire as a signal of broader ambition: "Protein, caffeine, and fiber are things millions of people reach for every single day. We believe our pearls belong right there with them."
The appointment underscores a wider trend covered in restaurant and hospitality beverage program reporting: operators and retailers are increasingly looking for novelty-driven functional formats that can straddle the experiential and wellness aisles simultaneously. Whether popping boba can earn a place in gym bags as readily as it has in cocktail menus will depend on what Li's lab produces — and how quickly it reaches shelf.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
