SodaStream chief executive officer Daniel Birnbaum said that he’s not worried about competition from the Keurig Kold machine.
That device, which Keurig Green Mountain plans to release later this year, is mostly for making colas and other sodas, Birnbaum said Monday at a conference sponsored by Beverage Digest. About 60 per cent of SodaStream’s customers, in contrast, only use its products to make carbonated water, he said. Seven per cent rely on the SodaStream just to create sodas.
SodaStream, based in Israel, is moving away from its earlier stance as a home-made alternative to Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products. The company is now promoting itself as a maker of sparkling water, which can be plain or lightly flavoured. Fifty new SodaStream water flavours will be available in the US in August, helping the company promote the shift.
“We had a strategic error, where we positioned ourselves as an alternative to Coke and Pepsi,” Birnbaum said. “That was wrong.”
Birnbaum said consumer preferences have moved from traditional carbonated soft drinks to water. He said that he hopes that SodaStream’s flavoured varieties can serve as a bridge to plain still water, helping consumers increase their water intake.
The Kold arrives at a time when both Keurig and SodaStream are struggling to regain their footing. SodaStream is heading toward a second year of declining sales, something that it hopes to reverse with the focus on sparkling water. At Keurig, a slower-than-expected roll-out of the Kold has raised concerns about its ability to maintain growth.
Bloomberg News, edited by ESM
