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PepsiCo releases SodaStream Pro for universities and offices

PepsiCo is taking its SodaStream system from its exclusive private real estate on kitchen counters to the public arena with the introduction of its SodaStream Professional that will be rolled out worldwide this fall.

This commercial system was pilot tested over the last year with Salesforce, Ford, University of Rochester and The Philadelphia International Airport, and going forward, it will be available for offices, universities and commercial spaces. The company said it does not yet have any partnerships secured.

The large-format SodaStream will allow thirsty people to customize their sparkling beverages outside of the home. PepsiCo's new system will offer a choice of various unsweetened flavors, carbonation levels and temperatures. The system is also part of a mobile-integrated ecosystem that lets individuals track how many plastic bottles they have saved from a landfill and also saves their preferred drink settings for future use.

SodaStream was acquired by PepsiCo in 2018 and has since become an integral part of the company’s "Beyond the Bottle" initiative that aims to reduce the CPG giant’s use of plastic by contributing to a circular economy that reuses plastic materials already in existence. PepsiCo estimates that the growth of its SodaStream business alone will contribute to reducing single-use plastic bottles by 67 billion units by the end of 2025. This figure could help attract sustainably-minded consumers to switch over to a refillable bottle system, especially since this machine will dispense a carbonated beverage tailored to individual specifications.

In addition to contributing to its sustainability goals, this professional SodaStream system helps PepsiCo tap deeper into the sparkling water category where Nielsen data showed sales jumped 43% between 2017 and 2018.

As sweet beverages and soda continue to fall out of favor with consumers, sparkling water has become the new darling of the beverage world and has attracted a myriad of competitors from established brands like S. Pellegrino to startups like Spindrift whose sales totaled $37.4 million for 2019, according to IRI data reported by Bevnet.

PepsiCo's latest earnings report filing illustrates the importance of sparkling water to the soda giant's portfolio. SodaStream contributed six percentage points to PepsiCo’s European net revenue growth of $1.8 billion, according to the latest earnings report filing. In addition to its SodaStream line, PepsiCo also has its own bubly brand of sparkling water which earned a top-10 mention on IRI's top New Product Pacesetters of 2019 for food and beverage list, raking in more than $100 million in sales.

While traditional carbonated water remains popular, the space is evolving rapidly and this release is an effort from PepsiCo to keep up. Instead of innovating with the introduction of trendy ingredients like caffeine and CBD, PepsiCo is catering to those with busy lifestyles. In its release, the company said “The intuitive user experience and physical look and feel integrates into users' daily routine, making it easy and exciting to hydrate.” This approach would likely be a welcome one in normal times. However, with the pandemic upending lifestyles and schedules across the globe, it will be interesting to see how popular this commercial dispenser becomes.