i-Drink Products Takes a Shot at SodaStream’s Market Niche

iSODA Lotus

By Lorrie Baumann

iSODA made its debut at the 2015 International Home + Housewares Show with a carbonating machine line that bids for a spot in the market niche currently dominated by SodaStream. “We’ve been in this area for a while, and everyone we’ve talked to believes this market needs some competition, and customers are seeking alternatives,” said Douglas Wang, i-Drink Products President and CEO.

i-Drink Products owns Eco-Gam Plastics Inc., which has been making beverage carbonation machines since 1999, and serves as an OEM for other brands well known to the American market, including Hamilton Beach and the Primo Flavorstation home beverage maker. “We are now ready to release newer technology under the iSODA brand name,” Wang said.

“The innovation capability of this factory is much, much stronger than our competition,” Wang said, noting that the factory houses scientists and engineers who are available to help develop new technologies. “iSODA has 18-plus patents already.” Among the distinguishing features of the iSODA machines is its Quick-Connect™ bottle. “Unlike the competition, which takes several turns to put the bottle on, ours is just one click,” Wang said. A double-secured design ensures that once the bottle has been attached to the iSODA, it stays there during carbonation until the user removes it.

iSODA costs less to use than SodaStream, according to Wang, because it operates with a lower CO2 pressure. iSODA’s patented TurboBubbler™ swirls CO2 into the water for better diffusion of smaller bubbles and much better solubility of CO2 into the water. That actually makes the product taste better, much as people say that smaller bubbles in Champagne make for a better tasting wine, according to Betsy Henrichs, i-Drink Marketing Director, who says that she uses the iSODA machine on her home kitchen countertop several times a day, for cooking, baking and cleaning as well as for beverage-making. “It’s an essential kitchen appliance that no kitchen should be without,” she said, adding that she’s found that drinking carbonated water is healthier for her than drinking soda.

Initial purchase prices for iSODA are also lower than comparable machines from SodaStream, according to Wang. There are several models in the iSODA line, from the iSODA Mini, which retails for $39.99, to the $79.99 DrinkMate countertop machine that launched this year at IH+HS.

iSODA Mini

The company also offers a line of Italian-made flavoring syrups made with real fruit. “Everyone tastes it and they just love it,” Wang said.

The $39.99 iSODA Mini is targeted at the on-the-go user. Small enough to be carried in a handbag, it’s charged with an 8-gram non-refillable CO2 cartridge. “It’s like a bullet – you just use it once. It’s great for camping, boating, tailgating, picnics, college dorm, home bar and small kitchens – it easily fits in a drawer. We see good sales potential in drug and convenience stores, and retailers with strong back-to-school programs aimed at college students.” Wang said.

The iSODA Spritzer is another handheld machine that launched at IH+HS. It uses a refillable CO2 charger and is the first in the world to allow the user to carbonate premixed drinks. “You can pretty much carbonate whatever you want, even wine or juice. With iSODA Spritzer and DrinkMate, you can do that with no problem,” Wang said. Spritzer will retail for $59.99. DrinkMate is the countertop model similar to the Spritzer and will also carbonate premixed drinks such as juices or coffee. It retails for $79.99.

Traditional countertop models include the iSODA Eco which retails for $64.99, and iSODA Lotus, with the same functions as Eco but with a slightly different profile, retailing for $69.99.

Syrups retail for $7.99. If you make the soda according to the directions on the bottle, which accord with federal nutrition labeling requirements, one 500 ml bottle will make eight liters of soda, but the folks at iSODA like their carbonated beverages a little less than full strength, so they say you can actually use a 500 ml bottle to make 15-17 liters just by adding only three or four swirls of the syrup to a glass of soda water, which is sufficient to add good flavor, Wang said.

Once the customer empties a CO2 cartridge, it is exchanged for a full cartridge at one of the stores in the i-Drink network, so the cartridge exchange provides a mechanism to encourage customers to return to the store. There is currently one plant in Ann Arbor, Michigan that refills the cartridges and delivers them to stores in the network, but the long-term business plan is to have several satellite refill centers around the U.S. and Canada, Wang said, “We will grow in that direction.”

Visit www.goisoda.com for more information about i-Drink Products.

This story was originally published in the April 2015 issue of Kitchenware News, a publication of Oser Communications Group.