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PepsiCo Is Acquiring SodaStream for $3.2B
- fenwick67 8y agoIf this doesn't violate anti-trust I don't know what would.
- littleweep 8y agoWould love to know the difference between vertical integration and anti-trust.
- arkades 8y agoVertical integration is grabbing up- and down-stream in your supply chain. Anti-trust is about grabbing horizontal competitors.
- chadash 8y agoWhy would this be anti-trust? Sodastream has competitors who do the exact same thing, not to mention their biggest competitor, which is pre-bottled sparkling water.
- sushid 8y agoThe market disagrees with you as it's trading at $142 at the moment. It's not like Coke is merging with Pepsi.
- jacobush 8y agoNow that would be a new coke!
- garrettdc 8y agoKeurig and DPSG already did this. There isn't any reason to block this...
- jplayer01 8y agoIt's not categorically okay just because others have done it.
- phjesusthatguy3 8y ago"The majority of all water consumed in the country is sparkling, [SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum] says" Does anyone know what he's actually talking about? Is he counting all carbonated beverages vs. tap or something?
- freehunter 8y agoI find that statement odd as well. The only thing I can think of is he's looking at consumption of purchased products, and I'm assuming that bottled or fountain soda outsells bottled water. If it was actually "all water consumed", tap water would win out pretty handily I'd think. Either way it's an incredibly misleading sentence, or at least a sentence stated way out of context.
- dmschulman 8y agoI assume it's based off of Pepsi's sales figures (and therefore only pertains to their beverage selection).
- jcampbell1 8y agoConsume as in "eat/drink". Not consume as in "use". The word drink/drank/drunk would be better if the conjugations weren't so aweful. Dranken, drinked are not words. The correct word is "drunk", but it hits the ear badly: "The majority of all water drunk in the country is sparkling" I have no idea about the factual accuracy.
- 8y ago
- petra 8y agoSo does this mean the future of soda drinks is making them at home ? If not, why? What's missing ?
- willio58 8y agoPersonally I have no interest in making soda at home as I’ll only indulge in a soda once or twice in a year. For me, I’ll buy it at a restaurant or a vending machine, and that’s the end of it
- Spivak 8y agoNothing is missing, it's just a bit of an upfront cost if you want soda that doesn't taste terrible. All of the consumer products are cheaply made, weak, and ridiculously overpriced even for the terrible quality you get. If you want something that tastes as good as a restaurant then you pretty much need to buy the same equipment and it'll set you back at least $1k^, a weekend projects worth of installation time, and the cost of a CO2 tank and bulk syrup. ^ You can probably get under $1k if all you want is a soda-gun without the fancy dispenser.
- ChuckMcM 8y agoOddly enough I seriously investigated this path when I was drinking 1600oz (47 liters) per week of Diet Dr. Pepper. It was possible, through careful shopping, to buy it between 2 and 3 cents per ounce. Trying to buy it as bulk syrup was something like 4 cents per ounce (of soda) not counting the cost of the CO2 and filter system for the water.
- dogma1138 8y agoJesus no offense but I also hope you shopped for a good healthcare provider along the way also.
- ChuckMcM 8y agoNo offense taken. In this particular sample of one there have not been any deleterious effects from that level of consumption. The only medical anomaly detected has been a lower than expected cholesterol level given age/weight models. When I decided to give it up in February of this year there was about a 3 day caffeine withdrawal experience followed by dealing with the habituated 'sweet drink' habit (I've replaced my Diet Dr. Pepper consumption with water which doesn't satisfy a drink something sweet habit well). My expectation is that by next February that habit will also stop impinging on me.
- bdcravens 8y agoA few years ago we did SodaStream alot, and our latest fridge even has a SodaStream dispenser built in. However in recent years the variety, and quality, of syrups went downhill as I believe they were focusing more on flavored sparkling rather than mainstream soda. Hope this changes that.
- Finnucane 8y agoMaking syrup is dead simple. Hell, a little lemon juice and sugar and you've got lemon soda. And the soda water by itself is fine when it's hot. I make chocolate syrup so I can have egg creams in the summer. Also, mint syrup because it grows wild in my yard.
- Big_crimpin 8y agoI couldn't agree more. It's actually really fun too. I'd love to see more people finding new concoctions and sharing syrup recipes. We've got a few companies covering entire store shelf space with 10 variations each of the same 8-12 ingredients. There's no better feeling than letting a friend try a soda you made yourself from scratch and watching their eyebrows go up in surprise because your cocktail of flavours is awesome.
- allannienhuis 8y agoI've just been using the little squirt bottles of water flavoring (Mio, Dasani, and a number of other brands) with our SodaStream. Works like a charm for me. They tend to be fruit-flavored but that's what I prefer anyway. Just shoot them in your glass, not in the bottle. I find it easier to get the variety that way - don't have to commit to a flavor for a whole bottle & no need for multiple bottles in the fridge.
- WiseWeasel 8y agoHaving tried several syrups, I prefer to mix the carbonated water with fruit juices. Use orange juice to make orange soda, apple for cider-like soda, or any fruit juice you enjoy. I find fruit juice to have a better balance of flavor and sweetness (less sweet) than most syrups you can get, which makes sense given the amount of sugar in them. The only syrup I still use is Indian tonic for cocktails.
- Someone1234 8y agoI recently tried a soda stream. I was legitimately surprised how poor the official syrups were (Coke, Dr. Pepper, etc). The bubbles were rich but the taste was nothing like store purchased versions of the same. Half tempted to buy a box of the real syrup from Sam's club and try that with a soda stream.
- TheSoftwareGuy 8y agoYour local water supply may not taste the same as the factory water
- Someone1234 8y agoI was using filtered water.
- loco5niner 8y agoI was just in florida and was surprised at how bad even the bottled water tasted.
- jstarfish 8y agoYou have to check where it was bottled. No sense in refusing to drink the tap water when the bottles youre buying come from the same municipal source.
- loco5niner 8y agoYep, we ended up buying water bottled from the Himalayan springs, untouched by modern society. Just kidding, New Jersey.
- ISV_Damocles 8y agoI found that the Coke-alike syrup could taste a lot like Coke, but you had to add a little less than half the amount of syrup they recommend. I eventually dropped it, though, because the CO2 canisters were too expensive and didn't want the hassle of modding it to use a rechargeable CO2 system (and the subsequent years of being tied to it to get back to a neutral return-on-investment versus just buying Coke).
- heydenberk 8y agoI'm surprised PepsiCo would court this kind of controversy: SodaStream is a primary target of the BDS (boycott divest sanctions) movement[1] because of their Israeli origin and particularly their history of operating facilities in disputed territories. [1] https://bdsmovement.net/tags/sodastream https://bdsmovement.net/tags/sodastream
- yohann305 8y agolike we say in English: "Business is Business"
- crsv 8y agoI've never even heard of the BDS movement until this comment, which is possibly a reason why PepsiCo didn't take this seriously.
- galazzah 8y agoSodaStream took it seriously enough to move their factory out of the illegal settlements
- dogma1138 8y agoAny by doing so fired over 500 Palestinian workers.
- runarberg 8y agoPerhaps it is a cultural thing, but I've been boycotting Soda stream throughout my adulthood. In fact whenever a conversation arises around me, I advice everyone (with positive feedback) to do the same. Whenever I see Soda Stream in the wild, I cringe a little.
- notafraudster 8y agoBDS is, and I mean this descriptively and not as an endorsement, a big deal. It has been a focal point of left grassroots politics in the West for the last several years and is one of the major pain points for campus politics. I would say a simple majority of all communication from Jewish advocacy groups the last few years has been around the BDS issue. The US Congress has considered legislation around BDS. I don't really know anyone on any side of the politics divide that doesn't take the issue seriously (whether on a symbolic or on a policy level). I suspect when you made your comment you thought you were saying "the Emperor has no clothes", but it was actually more like "I don't know anybody who voted for Nixon". Surely the better strategy in a case like this is at least to bother Googling to see if it seems like an active thing or an irrelevant fringe thing.
- yohann305 8y agoI would love to see an API to make your own soda flavors at home
- AdmiralAsshat 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_cola https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_cola Have at it!
- guidedlight 8y agoThis seems like a very smart purchase, as soda bottle sales are flat or declining in many parts of the world.
- cool-RR 8y agoYes, and the flat soda bottles don't sell well at all.
- gnicholas 8y agoI hope the result is to broaden distribution of SodaStream refill canisters, and lower the price due to economies of scale. I'm not holding my breath though. I've never tried soda flavor packets, but I enjoy carbonating fruit-infused water (watermelon and strawberry are great) and white wine (for cheap but surprisingly good "champagne"). Just be sure not to fill the liquid all the way to the line when using anything other than water!
- copperx 8y agoIsn't warranty void when using it for anything other than water?
- dingdingdang 8y agoHonestly, I would use my SodaStream machine if the cartridges were not so prohibitively expensive in the UK - £15 per refilled cartridge via Argos (being one one the few remaining places where cartridges can even be had). Feels like Pepsi could revolutionize the carbonated water market in the UK/US by having machines installed in supermarkets to allow filtered bottled water on demand at better prices. Also, feel good and environment factor would be top given no CO2 emissions from trucking tap water around after fizzing it up!
- mason55 8y agoI just posted another comment on this but you can get adapters that let you hook up full sized CO2 tanks. A big one will last you for a year even if you drink tons of soda water
- dingdingdang 8y agoI looked briefly into this but would appreciate a recommendation since that particular market seem very DIY'ish at moment.
- kalleboo 8y agoInteresting geographic pricing discrimination. They're like £6 to swap in Sweden. I used to do it at my local supermarket. Maybe because there are compatible third-party gas canisters on the market they have to compete with e.g. https://www.öob.se/hushall/koksmaskiner/kolsyremaskiner/pafyllning-kolsyrepatron-1502193 https://www.xn--ob-eka.se/hushall/koksmaskiner/kolsyremaskin...
- robin_reala 8y agoI’m slightly surprised by all the comments here about syrups. Our SodaStream is used a couple of times a day to make soda water, and I can’t remember the last time a flavouring was added. Mind you, it always surprises me to hear people say they don‘t like the taste of water.
- jcampbell1 8y agoI think the carbonated water drinkers are very happy with SodaStreams. The flavored soda drinkers have mixed opinions. I think they are great, as I like to drink about a liter of seltzer a day. I like the Le Croix flavors in a can, and I often add bitters to plain seltzer. There are a ton of varieties of bitters available these days.
- anewone 8y agoIt always surprises me to hear that people enjoy carbonated water. Different strokes. The only way I can stand carbonation is with some flavor. Tap water is just fine to me.
- syntaxing 8y agoI'm serious surprised that Sodastream is valued at $3.2B. Keurig Dr Pepper Inc (NYSE: KDP) is only at marketvalued around 4B (though the acquisition and merger are skewing the numbers a bit).
- rdtsc 8y agoThe value is in the margins. SodaSteam I'd imagine has lower costs. CO2 is not very expensive, but those cartridges are $20-$30 to refill. That is almost pure profit.
- amelius 8y agoSigh. When can we have new products again, instead of old products with new business models?
- fipple 8y agoQuestion: can SodaStream carbonate arbitrary liquids like orange juice, or just pure water? If it can only carbonate water, which you then mix with flavoring, what’s the advantage over bottled seltzer from the store?
- jjcm 8y agoYea. It's just adding pressure to liquid. You can carbonate whatever you want in it. Tried it was apple juice once and it was neat, but ended up really using it almost exclusively for carbonated water.
- karmelapple 8y agoOfficially, just pure water. Unofficially, you can hack it [1]. Back in 2015, there were plans to unveil something that could officially do more [2], but that seems to not be for the consumer market. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/dining/hacking-home-soda-making-machines.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/dining/hacking-home-soda-... 2. https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2015/04/sodastream-mix-will-carbonate-any-and-all-liquids-including-alcohol https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2015/04/sodastream-mix-will-car...
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- lathiat 8y agoThe problem is that when you release pressure on anything but water, as the CO2 starts to come out of solution it bubbles up and tends to spill out of the bottle. I'm sure there is science on this but my naive guess is that this is partly because theres more nucleation sites to bubble more, and then the non-water fluid will "soap" up a bit for lack of a better description (form bubles) causing it to then spill up and out. You can get around this by releasing the pressure slowly. Some models of SodaStream (e.g. the Source) let you do this and others do not (e.g. the electric model). As a secondary concern if the fluids do spill up out of the top into the valve area, it gets stuff on the seals etc and it doesn't seal as well later. Lower pressure = less carboned. And it's very easy to do this even releasing the pressure slowly. So; yes.. but.. no. If you want to do that regularly, you're better off making some other kind of solution I think. It's pretty easy to make your own rudimentary sodastream. (and as others stated, they specifically tell you not to do this)
- walrus01 8y agoFor those who care, google "DIY sodastream", you can build your own refill canister attachment apparatus and be free from their razor blades/razor or ink tank/inkjet business model.
- cobookman 8y agoI've thought the same. But the soda stream co2 refills are way easier to pickup. And with the 20% off bed bath and beyond coupon it's not that much more expensive