Dive Brief:
- The NPD Group, a global market research company, reports that U.S. retail sales of home soda machines increased 30% in 2013 compared with the previous years. Sales of complementary products, including CO2 carbonators, bottles, mixes, and syrups more than doubled.
- Dollar sales of syrups and mixes for home soda machines increased 83% compared to 2012, with regular and diet soda options still holding the top two spots. Sales of flavored water options grew the most in 2013, resulting in nearly triple the previous year’s results.
- Industry analysts take the figures as an indicator that the make-it-at-home soda industry is growing, even while standard soda sales continue to fall.
Dive Insight:
The findings of the report jibe with the news of Coke's entry into the home soda machine market, and in fact, validates the market that SodaStream established. Debra Mednick, executive director and home industry analyst at the NPD Group, observed: "Home soda makers as a category is still in its infancy with relatively low household penetration. The potential of these machines is contingent upon broadening the category’s appeal with a wider variety of uses and offerings, ease of obtaining the consumables, and price.” Adding a branded Coke machine to the lineup that SodaStream and its branded partners offer would effectively broaden the category, and there should be room for both.