SodaStream has enjoyed widespread success in Europe. It says 25 percent of Swedish households use its products, and reports similarly high rates in countries like Finland and the Czech Republic.
But in the U.S., the household penetration rate is just 1 percent. Birnbaum is confident that with his publicity blitz, beginning with the Super Bowl, he can gradually bring that number closer toward the European levels.
“We’re talking about revolutionizing consumer habits and behavior, but it’ll happen,” he said.
The company has been in the U.S. for only about four years. To make its machine more desirable, it has formed partnerships to offer a variety of concentrated, liquid flavors that users can squeeze into their water. For example, users can make drinks with Kraft’s Kool-Aid.
The Super Bowl, advertising’s largest showcase, provides a golden opportunity for SodaStream to put itself on the map. Last year, the National Football League’s championship game garnered an estimated 111.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen.Soft drink volume has steadily dipped in the U.S. by 1 to 2 percent a year since 2005.
“Certainly the cool gadget factor of it and the novelty will attract some users, but people like consuming brands,” he said. “SodaStream is not to be considered a phenomenon.”
The company’s main plant is in Mishor Adumim, an Israeli industrial zone next to the Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim in the West Bank.
Pro-Palestinian activists say the company has profited from Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. They say Palestinian workers have suffered from low wages and poor working conditions and criticized the company for receiving economic incentives, including tax deductions, from the Israeli government.
“The new SodaStream publicity blitz has given the U.S. boycott, divestment, sanctions movement a marvelous opportunity to bring our campaigns targeting settlement products to a new, unprecedented level of visibility and success,” said Anna Baltzer, an organizer of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. “It’s time to burst SodaStream’s bubble. There’s nothing environmentally friendly about military occupation.”
Birnbaum, meanwhile, defended the company’s West Bank presence. He called the anti-Israel activists a “confused bunch” and said he is providing jobs for Palestinians.
“We don’t strengthen or support the occupation,” he said. “What we’re doing is taking a facility in the occupied territory and giving Palestinians a career and economic benefits. I’ve got to laugh when they think we’re on the wrong side of this. We’re part of the solution. We build bridges, not walls.”
Well, I guess after pretty much finailg in the market over on our side of the lake, Sodastream now wants to test the waters on your side, Tony. Over a year ago they did some very heavy marketing in the US, esp. in the “big box” stores such as Costco and BJs, just before the Christmas holidays. Many fell for their claims, but it was amazing that in a matter of weeks the returns of their product was legion. My younger son and his wife were initially intrigued by the product and thought it was terrific, and I was persuaded to purchase one. At the consumer level, it never lived up to its claims. The sodas rapidly lost their fizz; the machine itself was awkward and cumbersome, and the tastes of their own concentrates were “chemical” in nature. But the most glaring problem with it was that getting a refill canister was a difficult and trying process, even in a major consumer market such as Metro NY. On top of that it was very expensive. Apparently Sodastream was following the dictum of copier companies and decided the real money was to be made in the purchase of new cartridges. The point that was missed is that a business NEEDS a copier. NO ONE NEEDS SODA. So just on a business level, my opinion is that the entire product is a lousy choice for those who do need soft drinks. But on a political level, the company seems to go out of its way to hide the fact of where the machine and its accessories are produced. “Made in Israel” or more accurately “Made in the West Bank” are no where to be found. The shillers pushing it at the stores make no mention of it. Had I even known that, I would have never purchased it in the first place, as you certainly know my position on that matter. At this point Sodastream products are not that easy to find at the stores in which they were originally marketed, which were many major chains. Frankly I believe the marketplace is taking care of this product and sinking it. I think it will quickly go the way of such other home use devices as the Fondue Pot and the automatic Waffle maker. CocaCola and Pepsico have nothing to fear from Sodastream. I personally recommend fresh juice plus seltzer as a wonderful and better home alternative, if one really really needs to consume soda products. Best regards,Bill Friend