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>SodaStream has a product that could be wildly disruptive to the soda industry, if successful. Not really. Maybe with a different business model, but from the
by mistercow 14y ago
>SodaStream has a product that could be wildly disruptive to the soda industry, if successful.
Not really. Maybe with a different business model, but from the cost analysis I've seen, SodaStream comes in at about $0.40/L, which is a little over half of what Coke and Pepsi cost, but the cost of Coke and Pepsi is about 50% branding anyway. A fair comparison would be generic sodas, which are are closer to $0.50/L. So you're only saving about 20%, even though you've cut out the cost of bottling water, warehousing it, and shipping it around the country (aka, most of the actual cost of soda).
Which is to say that the SodaStream is a rip-off. They lock you into buying their proprietary CO2 tanks (which are specially threaded so you can't shop around), so it's sort of a similar business model to printers or razors. Except, of course, that you can actually build a DIY carbonation system for not much more than the cost of the SodaStream fountain itself (and it's not a difficult build; you just have to connect some hoses to some off-the-shelf parts, and you can find plenty of guides on the internet).
- kriro 14y agoTheir early movers target market isn't all that price sensitive. They mostly sell on emotion/cause and the rejection stuff is a perfect fit for that audience. Guess they try to fill the chasm with hipsters so that joe-shmoe can walk right over it.
- SoftwareMaven 14y agoIf you really want the Soda Stream, you can get an adapter for a paintball CO2 cartridge. http://palmer-pursuit.com/cart/soda-stream-course-thread-bottle-adapter-p-1102.html?zenid=2c6duq2slvqeft8r0qm6qqod73 http://palmer-pursuit.com/cart/soda-stream-course-thread-bot... for example.
- DanBC 14y agoIs that food-safe? And is it taking Airsoft containers to use for sodastream, or is it taking sodastream containers to use for airsoft? An initial web search shows this, but I have no idea how accurate it is. (http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/trouble-shooting-beer-quality-home/3180-food-grade-co2-vs-regular-co2.html http://www.micromatic.com/forum/us-en/trouble-shooting-beer-...)
- SoftwareMaven 14y agoOne of the reviews that I linked to talked about this. According to them, they talked to several suppliers who said the food-grade difference was make by turning the (source! I think) canister over and running it for a couple seconds. Take that with a big grain of salt. I'd certainly look into it more before I used it. :)