Sodastream (Soda Club) fouled up in Germany

In 2006, Sodastream (Soda Club) tried denying a different business to refill “their” bottles of carbonic acid, by claiming that the bottles were actually their own property and did not belong to the customer (through contracts that all customers had to agree to).

This didn’t work in Germany, possibly setting the norm in many other countries.  This niche really does need competition, both for the sake of the environ­ment (bottles should be refilled in the store, an operation that takes a mere 20 seconds), and for the price, which could easily be cut in half.  Still, you should consider that sparkling water made at home already costs but a fraction of store-purchased carbonated drinks. Things could be a lot better.

Here are the facts:

http://www.bundeskartellamt.de

April 13, 2006