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HOLLADAY — Jon Pierre Francia never meant for his apple cider vinegar drink creation to become its own business. But, now the founder of Utah's Sweeto Burrito restaurant chain is taking the world by storm with his healthy lemonade product — and his mission to fight obesity and diabetes.
Francia, who lives with his family in Holladay, manufactures his drink, called Life Cider, in Springville.
Last week, Life Cider made the finals round at BevNet's New Beverage Showdown, the beverage industry's top business pitch competition. He was one of 12 new brands invited to compete and ended up in the top six, garnering attention from companies like Coca-Cola, Whole Foods and Sprouts.
Len Hunter, senior vice president of United Natural Foods, told Francia, "I think this may be the biggest single product I've ever had in my 35 years of food and beverage distribution."
Even before BevNet, Francia was distributing his Life Cider across grocery stores and hotels in Arizona, using Peddler's Son, a produce distribution company. He was launching Life Cider in Beverly Hills at Equinox Luxury Fitness Club and at Pink Dot, a 7-11-type convenience store. Not to mention, negotiations just began with various Utah-based grocers.
In regard to his fast-growing success, Francia said, "I'm kind of freaking out a little bit! I thought this was going to start off very mom-and-pop, and it's anything but that, now."
"It's like drinking through a firehose," he added.
'It was time to take care of myself'
In 2008 and 2010, Francia had two bouts of pneumonia involving severe secondary infections. On top of that, he was suffering from severe acid reflux, bad back issues, heartburn, obesity, swollen joints and aspirating fluids in his lungs at night.
"I almost died," Francia said. "I was coughing up blood for weeks. … They didn't know how to fix me."
Doctors tried several heavy antibiotics, which finally worked. But they said he would have to be intubated if they couldn't get his health issues under control.
But 2015 was Francia's real wake-up call. He watched his grandmother and grandfather die at 96 and 98, respectively. He realized that, genetically, he had the potential to live a long life, but only if he did something about his health.
"I thought, 'I'm 45. I'm only halfway through my potential life, but I'm not going to make it. I'm going to die of either respiratory disease or diabetes,'" Francia said. "So I said, 'Okay, I have to get on top of my health. I can't do this anymore.'"
Along with eating healthier, Francia started drinking apple cider vinegar after reading about potential benefits like improved heart health, diabetes management, lower levels of acid reflux, weight loss and lowered cholesterol.
But the taste was awful. So, using his culinary background and experience mixing flavors at Sweeto Burrito – which he sold three years ago, in 2020 — Francia started adding flavors and turned his drink into a tasty lemonade.
"Having created almost every recipe at Sweeto Burrito, every rub sauce, marinade — I knew how to go play with flavors," Francia told KSL.com.
But he didn't do it overnight. He spent around three years playing around with flavors until he created a drink that his family wouldn't leave alone. When he realized his wife and kids were drinking the lemonade, too, he started adding vitamins. Each can of Life Cider includes 500 milligrams of vitamin C, a vitamin D3 pill, 10 milligrams of zinc, 500 micrograms of B12 and 84 trace minerals.
At the end of 2018, he realized he had something worth sharing, and he turned it into Life Cider.
"I know what it did for my health, and I know what it can do for obesity and diabetes," Francia said. "I didn't intend for this to be a product. … So, as much as I'm going to enjoy the ride with this as a business, it's not going to overshadow what really has become a mission for me on obesity and diabetes."
Prior to his own health issues, Francia grew up watching his stepdad, who raised him from the age of 6, struggle with unmanaged diabetes.
"Dozens of times over the years, paramedics came to our house to save my dad's life, and I can tell you some pretty terrifying stories about growing up with a dad who didn't manage diabetes well," Francia said.
He knew he didn't want that to happen to his family, too.
"My family is everything to me," Francia said. "I can't imagine not taking care of my health and exiting Earth prematurely and leaving them without me. So it was time to take care of myself."
Utah roots
Francia was born in La Jolla and raised along the West Coast, but he has spent most of his life in Utah, which he calls home. He feels strongly about centering the Life Cider mission around Utah values.
"We're about to absolutely blow up, nationally," Francia said. "But as wonderful as that is, I really want to focus on Utah. This is home."
Most diseases start in your stomach and in your intestines. So if you want to be healthy, start with your gut.
– Jon Pierre Francia, founder of Life Cider
Francia thought Life Cider would only be popular among the health-conscious crowd, but he has seen it be well-received across a wide age range and many demographics. He noted that Utah is full of influencers, "mommy bloggers," and food lovers who share products they love, making it a great place to launch the product.
"The best way to build a brand is to build roots deep and then let the branches go out," Francia said. "We really want to grow our roots deep, and Utah is a great place to do that."
After talking with the national buyer of Whole Foods at BevNet last week, Francia is working with the nationwide company to start selling at Utah stores prior to expanding to the rest of the country. He is also looking to sell to other health-conscious markets within Utah.
Life Cider is available online, at lifecider.com, which includes same-day shipping for Utah residents.
What's next?
Life Cider has many collaborations in the works with other companies and celebrities, yet to be announced. In the meantime, Francia remains passionate about spreading his mission of improving gut health as a way to fight obesity, inflammation and diabetes.
"Our gut health is everything," Francia said. "Most diseases start in your stomach and in your intestines. So if you want to be healthy, start with your gut."
