How SodaStream keeps its fizz in flat times

SodaStream once had to battle the supermarkets for shelf space, now with annual sales fast approaching $100m and legions of fans it is gaining the attention of retailers.

SodaStream Australia managing director Laura Wilson: ‘Grocery is a huge channel for us, particularly for our consumables like flavours.’ Picture: Aaron Francis

Laura Wilson vividly remembers battles with supermarket retailers a decade ago to convince them that SodaStream, the at-home fizzy drinks dispenser, was “a thing” and deserving of shelf space.

“When I started at Soda­Stream ten years ago it was a very different place,” she says.

“We were fighting for shelf space.

“We were trying to convince retailers that were even a thing.

“Now we have built an entire category and are seeing competitors enter the market because it is a real thing now.”

She has witnessed the stunning growth of SodaStream first hand.

She spent nine years as its marketing director, taking a lot of time getting retailers to believe in the product, and now will lead the charge after being named managing director, the first woman to lead SodaStream in Australia.

She replaces SodaStream Australia’s previous boss Mark Fenton who takes on the role as managing director in the US, the first Australian to do so.

At least Ms Wilson can spend less of her time convincing the retail sceptics.

Those battles have been fought and clearly won.

The proof is in the numbers. While many beverage makers are facing flatlining or even declining sales, SodaStream has almost doubled its sales since 2018 and is quickly approaching $100m in annual revenue in Australia.

And the Covid-19 pandemic has only added rocket fuel to its local growth trajectory as people locked up in their homes start mixing up their own soft drinks and the odd cocktail to get through lockdowns, while working from home is also giving their SodaStream machines a real workout.

Australia is one of the best performing regions globally for the company.

So when Ms Wilson now walks into meetings with supermarkets the question these days isn’t “what is SodaStream?” but rather “what do you have for us next?”.

“What people don’t know about SodaStream is that we started that at-home beverage maker category over 118 years ago and over our very long history we have remained relevant.

“Although it is now a crowded category, we are also a little bit different from the category too in that we have been ahead of the trend.

“We are giving people the chance to create their own beverages to their own needs and preferences, which I think sets us apart.”

Ms Wilson has always been in marketing roles, starting out with Hewlett Packard after university, working on high level defence equipment and moving to something completely different, the Tupperware company, before stints in allied health, solar energy and then SodaStream, which was bought by beverages giant PepsiCo for $US3.2bn in 2018.

Its latest innovations include SodaStream flavours mixes drawn from its parent, such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew and 7Up.

Distribution deals allowing the SodaStream gas canisters to be replaced through chains such as 7-Eleven and Officeworks have helped broaden the drink maker’s reach and maintain its relevance.

Now the supermarket channel has transformed from a battleground into a crucial channel for SodaStream.

“Ten years ago we were trying to convince the industry we were here to stay and consumers wanted us. Now it is a whole other story and you can see it when you look at the supermarket shelf.

“We have so much more presence and more of our products are there.

“We are constantly innovating and grocery is a huge channel for us, particularly for our consumables like flavours, more than buying the machine.

“Most of our consumers won’t buy their machine at the grocery channel but they come back for their consumables there.”

Adding to its popularity is the company’s green halo, which SodaStream markets heavily to. Revenue in calendar 2019 leapt to $73.4m from $51.16m in 2018, and the company believes much of the growth is driven by consumers seeking to limit the environmental impact of millions of plastic bottles thrown out each day by turning to the reusable Soda­Stream system.

“Our retail partners are seeing what we saw so long ago: that this opportunity is good for them and that consumers regularly come back for consumable products, particularly gas (canisters) but also flavours and bottles too.”

Ms Wilson believes that health trends such as lower sugar consumption are providing the perfect tailwinds for SodaStream.

The product allows people to mix their own drinks and limit sugar.

They can reuse bottles and limit household waste.

“We are what people are looking for now, in terms of industry trends. We have been so perfectly aligned this whole time and it’s almost like the world is catching up to what we were already providing a long time ago.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has supercharged this growth since 2020, and not surprisingly, as people spend more time in their homes, where they are using and experimenting with SodaStream in their kitchens, and less time at the office or going out, where they may pick up a bottle of Coke at a vending machine.

“We are predominantly an at-home product and we saw a couple of things: the rate of purchase on our consumables (canisters and flavours) increased exponentially as people were more home-bound. I guess they wanted to make life a little bit more exciting or pleasurable.

“They couldn’t go out to bars or anything, so they were making their own at-home cocktails for example. For us sales of the consumables went through the roof, including gas, because people were making a lot of sparkling water, but we also saw a similar trends in the machines.”

It also brought in a whole new class of customers new to the ­SodaStream system. underlining the belief that SodaStream is indeed a “thing”.