With sales and demand ‘on fire,’ SodaStream adds plant
SodaStream, the Israel-based manufacturer of counter-top carbonators, is increasing its presence in Canada amid growing sales and increased demand for sparkling water.
“The Canadian business is on fire,” the company’s chief executive Daniel Birnbaum said in an interview ahead of a Tuesday ribbon-cutting ceremony at the company’s new production facility in Mississauga, Ont., its first in Canada. SodaStream, which is now owned by PepsiCo after a US$3.2-billion acquisition was completed late last year, says Canada has become its fourth-largest market globally, with six per cent of Canadian households using SodaStream machines. The new plant in Mississauga will refill the carbon dioxide canisters that those machines use to turn tap water into carbonated water. Before the new plant began operations last month, when customers purchased new canisters in store, their empty ones were sent to a refilling station in New Jersey. The move comes as SodaStream transitions from being a rebellious upstart to a subsidiary of a massive soda empire. From its beginnings, the company has billed itself as a healthier, more environmentally friendly alternative to bottled water and carbonated beverages, often taking jabs at established players, in its advertising. Birnbaum himself once chided his firm’s future suitor for launching a bottled-water brand: “Shame on PepsiCo,” he said in 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Yeah, well, you don’t make peace with your friends, do you?” he said in an interview Monday. “They want to be better and we want to grow faster. So it’s all in the right direction.”
Asked if the acquisition could been seen another way — a sort of David giving up and joining Goliath scenario — Birnbaum replied quickly: “That’s a great thing — because maybe Goliath wants to be more like David.” “People should continue using it happily and they shouldn’t really care who the shareholders are.” he said. Canada has become a major market, Birnbaum said, with sales growing by nearly 50 per cent in 2018. Since 2010, SodaStream says it has sold 1.5 million machines. It’s the fourth-largest market for the machines in the world, behind Germany, the U.S. and France. Indeed, demand for sparkling water in Canada has been “exploding,” said Robert Carter, an industry adviser with NPD Group. “More consumers are just moving away from the alcohol category, they’re moving away from the carbonated soft drink category,” he said.