The second quarter performance of SodaStream (SODA, Financial) was solid and very similar to its first-quarter performance. The company is not having the best of times on the stock market, but it is reporting good growth in the business. In fact, in the last quarter, there were high gas refills in addition to robust growth of soda maker and flavor unit in Asia Pacific, Western Europe and CEMEA.
An impressive performance
Overall, the gas refill units jumped 17% approximating 6.5 million, flavor units recorded a 9% increase to 9.3 million, while soda maker units declined 16% to 785,000. This is equivalent to 1.1 billion cans of soda produced by SodaStream globally through the second quarter.
SodaStream is witnessing substantial business outside the U.S. with a 20% increase in revenue along with a 20% increase in refills, 21% increase in flavor units and 4% increase in soda maker units. These enhanced sales figures signify the potential of its business outside the U.S. and further opportunities in home carbonation system globally.
The impressive efforts of SodaStream in improving execution, strengthening brand awareness, and focusing on consumer benefits attract customers to purchase.
SodaStream cut down its product offering to merely two in Germany by dropping the soda maker manufactured quantity.
Looking at the end markets
Germany is a huge market for sparkling water consumption of SodaStream and has been expanding at 20-plus-percent per quarter pace since last year, and the penetration of active households jumped to 6% at present from 3% in 2009 with many opportunities for continued growth.
Other markets such as Finland have also become the target for consumer messaging looking at the convenient market for SodaStream as well as the environmental benefits. At present, the household penetration for Finland is just 20% and still growing with consumers utilizing the SodaStream machines to make flavored beverages and sparkling water.
SodaStream has discovered three key markets in France where it has found diverse benefits for an individual consumer. All these markets have performed amazingly in terms of growth in a very short duration of time.
Smart moves
SodaStream has strategically partnered with Samsung to accelerate the delivery of their carbonated refrigerators run by SodaStream in new markets including France, Germany, the U.K., Europe, Sweden, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia and Russia.
Additionally, SodaStream entered into a partnership with Del Monte outside the U.S. for producing a complete range of superior-quality, good-tasting flavors which now showcase in Italy and the U.K. SodaStream initiated the shipping of KitchenAid Soda Makers to retailers in Canada and the U.S. during the second quarter and plans on increasing the reach of this product to Australia and Western Europe in the latter half of this year.
Recently, SodaStream signed a partnership with Groupe SEB strategically, which is a well-known global manufacturer of cookware and small domestic appliances under the name of brands like All-Clad, Krups and Tefal. SodaStream is the official gas supplier for Tefal home soda maker, which is expected to be launched in Europe by the year end and hence supporting its gas franchise.
The in-store presence of SodaStream is robust in Australia. The innovative marketing efforts of the company coupled with its point of sale materials highlights the finest brand position of SodaStream having the benefits of consumer empowerment.
SodaStream introduced its seasonal hotspots in about 1,500 Wal-Mart doors which benefited its second-quarter results. SodaStream has very well understood the megatrend in U.S. centering health and wellness of consumers and is leading the trend.
Conclusion
SodaStream is working dynamically to launch new flavors that contain better and healthier ingredients such as natural sweeteners like Stevia, Monk fruit and others. SodaStream is focused on quickly increasing the workforce, improving the efficiencies and reducing cost. So, the company can be a good investment for the long run.
