Pittsburgh-based Unifying Spirits has appointed David Li, PhD, as Director of Research and Development, tasking him with engineering a functional nutrition pipeline built on the patented popping-pearl technology that powers Boba POPS® — the brand's alcohol-filled popping boba now present in more than 6,000 retail doors across 45 states.

The hire signals a deliberate pivot beyond beverage alcohol. While Boba POPS® remains the commercial foundation — available in nine flavors across 50 ml and 375 ml formats at off-premise chains including ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, Kroger, and Albertsons — Unifying Spirits intends to use the same shelf-stable fill process to deliver protein, caffeine, and dietary fiber inside popping pearls destined for mainstream wellness and energy SKUs.

The R&D Mandate

Li brings an atypical cross-discipline background to the role. He holds a PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, dual bachelor's degrees in Mathematical Economics and Biochemistry from Wake Forest University, and four years advising life-sciences companies at the BALSA Group, where he rose to Director of Marketing. He also completed a stint with Oracle's Life Sciences Solutions group. That blend of bench science and commercial strategy — market sizing, competitive mapping, and growth planning — is precisely the profile Unifying Spirits needed to move a patented manufacturing process from spirits into adjacent high-volume categories.

Harmon Rozycki, COO of Unifying Spirits, framed the appointment in terms of category reach: "Protein, caffeine, and fiber are things millions of people reach for every single day. We believe our pearls belong right there with them, and this is the beginning of a much bigger Unifying Spirits."

Three Target Categories

Unifying Spirits has identified three functional lanes for commercialization. Protein-filled pearls will target fitness and wellness consumers in a high-protein RTD segment projected to grow approximately 10% annually through 2033. Caffeinated pearls will be layered into existing Boba POPS® flavors, opening access to a global caffeinated-beverage market estimated at $92 billion in 2026. A third track — fiber- and probiotic-enriched pearls — targets gut-health demand, a category whose commercial momentum was underscored by PepsiCo's $1.95 billion acquisition of prebiotic soda brand Poppi in 2025.

Experimentation on all three functional lines began this quarter, the company said. Li is simultaneously advancing the core Boba POPS® portfolio with multi-flavor pearl technology that keeps differently flavored pearls distinct within a single drink, a development with obvious planogram differentiation potential at off-premise retail.

The strategic logic is straightforward for operators and distributors tracking the brand's trajectory: the same patented co-pack-ready fill process that keeps spirits shelf-stable inside a popping pearl can, in principle, be re-engineered to encapsulate any biocompatible payload. If Li's functional lines reach commercial scale, Unifying Spirits could be pitching into the supplement, energy, and gut-health aisles alongside its existing spirits and RTD cocktail distribution — a route-to-market expansion that would require entirely different wholesale relationships than the three-tier system it currently navigates.

For context on how functional ingredients are reshaping adjacent beverage segments, see our coverage of non-alc and functional RTD trends and spirits innovation and patented manufacturing across the Food & Beverage Magazine network.

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.