One of the food & drink highlights of Milan Design Week wasYves Behar’s redesigned SodaStream machine and dedicated Soda Bar – which is providing all the refreshments at the new design destination MOST this week.
Driving home the project’s focus on environmental responsibility and the need to reduce the number of cans and bottles that unneccessarily end up as landfill, there are no bottles on site at MOST, with the Soda Bar instead providing free drinks for visitors.
The product was presented at a bar designed by Béhar below a chandelier made of 550 disposable plastic water bottles, demonstrating the amount of waste that can be avoided by using the SodaStream system.
Daniel Birnbaum, the CEO of SodaStream at MOST
SodaStream uses technology to reduce the complexity and waste of sparkling water and soda, and this is the quality I focused on; creating a simple and beautiful object for the kitchen while keeping 21st century values ….. Yves Béhar.
The SodaStream Source rethinks the form, materials and interface of the product, which was invented in 1903 to make carbonated drinks from tap water. A streamlined reusable bottle locks into place and the liquid is carbonated by a CO2 canister, with an LED display showing the carbonation settings. The bottle can be washed and reused to reduce plastic consumption.
In addition, there are 20 different syrups to select from, including more exotic flavors like green tea lychee, kiwi pear, and forest fruit lemongrass.
raining 500 Bottles chandelier
Yves Behar
Behar says that he was drawn from the outset to the sustainable ethos of the brand. He hopes that the SodaStream Source, which uses compostable pods, will help to usher in a new, more thoughtful era of water consumption. “Disposable water bottles are going away, and so they should. Now is the time to rethink our sparkling water and our soda bottles as well.”
Yves recently released a design statement explaining why he believes this item warranted a makeover, and how rethinking the fundamentals of design is the only way we are going to make more innovative products:
” Sustainability is an opportunity to make any product or service more efficient for the world, and more practical and engaging for the users. We set out on a journey apply a vision of “reduce and refine” to the entire sparkling water and soda making experience. The focus became to make the soda making experience more drastically improved with world class mechanical engineering refined to acquire a refined simplicity on the kitchen counter.”
Project Background
When Sodastream came to see us at Fuseproject, I was already a user of the machine for a few years. More importantly I was a fan of how the product made it easy for anyone to change their sparkling and soda consumption by not wasting disposable bottles. It is rare when values such as sustainability align so easily between client and designer.
Sustainability is an opportunity to make any product or service more efficient for the world, and more practical and engaging for the users. We set out on a journey to apply a vision of “reduce and refine” to the entire sparking water and soda making experience.
The focus became to make the soda making experience more magical. Ease of use has been drastically improved with world class mechanical engineering, while the design was refined to acquire a refined simplicity on the kitchen counter.
The design of Source was a process of elimination. Starting with the larger volume, we chiseled off the functional areas and sculpted transitions. The resulting form is the quality we focused on for the design of the Sodastream Source. Visual clarity with a single monolithic shape and a carved-out area into which the new bottle finds a home is the new visual signature. There is no need to screw a bottle in the Source, instead a single-handed push locks it in place. The entire top surface responds to touch to carbonate, and interactive feedback is shown with backlit LED’s to differentiate between different levels of carbonation. The Source requires no electricity, but achieves its’ great feel through refined mechanical ingenuity.
In addition we got involved in the total brand expression of the experience, through packaging, naming, web and graphical design for the compostable soda pods.
Disposable water bottles are going away, and so they should. Now is the time to rethink our sparkling water and our soda bottles as well. What Sodastream does with technology is reduce the complexity around bubbly water and provide a considered everyday convenience. Creating a simple and beautiful object for the kitchen while keeping 21st century values is what we set out to do.
So, welcome to a future without wasteful sparking and soda bottles!
Famed for his mantra of “reduce and refine,” Béhar’s concept re-examines every element of the SodaStream system, including the interface, design and material selection, redefining the way it is used. The monolithic shape of SodaStream Source expresses the simple efficiency of the system while making a strong design statement in the kitchen.
The elegantly redesigned carbonating bottle easily locks into place with a single-push motion. Powered by a CO2 canister, the refined mechanics ofSodaStream Source make the entire top surface responsive to touch, and the strength of carbonation is visible through an LED display, providing instant, visual feedback.
Yves Béhar explains, “Disposable water bottles are going away, and so they should, so now is the time to rethink our soda bottles as well. I am a big fan of the spirit of SodaStream which places environmental responsibility alongside family and fun at the centre of its purpose. SodaStream uses technology to reduce the complexity and waste of sparkling water and soda, and this is the quality I focused on; creating a simple and beautiful object for the kitchen while keeping 21st century values.”
Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream, comments, ‘‘The collaboration with Béhar was natural for us. His track record proves that he is aligned with the same social and sustainability values as SodaStream, and his innovative designs are respected globally. At SodaStream we realise that world-class design is a prerequisite to securing space on the countertop, the most precious real estate in millions of kitchens worldwide. With Yves, we have combined outstanding design talent with best-in-class engineering resources to improve the functionality and ease-of-use of our products. The result is a system that looks beautiful, works well, and has mass appeal.’’
Plastic bottle waste is increasing at a worrying rate for the environment; about 460 billion bottles and cans are manufactured every year, and only about one-third of them get recycled. Until now, the threat of carbonated beverages has never been addressed, because there was no other option. SodaStream offers a better alternative by transforming tap water into sparkling beverages at home, with a reusable bottle. By using SodaStream the average family canprevent the unnecessary manufacture of many thousands of bottles and cans, most of which would end up in landfill.
The collaboration between SodaStream and Béhar is just the start of a global campaign. During the coming year SodaStream will also launch a home water centre by respected Italian designer Stefano Giovannoni, and a water vending machine by American designer Todd Bracher. These three new product launches are the beginning of a movement which marks the new and better future of the soft drink industry.
SodaCaps
Patent-pending SodaCaps flavour capsules provide easy dosing and consistent taste; “Source” soda maker combines new usability features with elegant style
SodaCaps are SodaStream’s new patent-pending flavoring system that takes home soda making to the next level.
SodaCaps single-serve, disposable capsules deliver a simple, fun and user-friendly experience with lifestyle appeal. One SodaCap will flavor one SodaStream carbonating bottle in an instant, resulting in a consistently flavored sparkling beverage each time.
Simply choose your flavor, place the capsule onto a SodaStream bottle of carbonated water and press down lightly to start the flow of flavor. Within seconds your sparkling drink is ready to enjoy.
SodaCaps can be recycled, will also be biodegradable, and will come in a stylish, elegantly-designed package.
1 SodaCap = 1 Liter of delicious sparkling drink / No mess / Consistent dosing / No “bottle-shaking.” / Perfect taste!
To use SodaCaps, a consumer places the capsule onto a SodaStream bottle of carbonated water and presses down lightly to start the flow of flavor along the inside walls of the bottle. Natural air pressure from the bubbles enters the SodaCap from the bottom to further accelerate the process and helps to distribute the flavor quickly and evenly throughout the bottle. SodaCaps can be recycled, and the Company plans to make them 100% biodegradable.
The Company also announced it had partnered with Yves Behar to re-examine every element of the SodaStream soda maker, including the user interface, the design and material selection, the bottle, and the overall consumer experience.
The result is the new “Source,” an elegantly-designed soda maker that combines beauty, functionality and efficiency. The sleek carbonating bottle locks into place using the new, patent-pending “snap-n-lock” mechanism for easy bottle insertion and removal. The entire top surface of the soda maker is responsive to touch, and the strength of carbonation is visible through the LED display, providing instant visual feedback. The Source will be priced at $99.00 for the basic version, with higher-end premium options available in metal and wood plating. The Company plans to begin selling the Source during the fourth quarter of this year.
As Yves Behar explains, “Disposable water bottles are going away, and so they should, so now is the time to rethink our soda bottles as well. I’m a big fan of the spirit of SodaStream which places environmental responsibility alongside family and fun at the center of its purpose. SodaStream uses technology to reduce the complexity and waste of sparkling water and soda, and this is the quality I focused on.”
“The SodaCaps and the Source are breakthrough milestones that combine new technology with beautiful, lifestyle design,” stated Daniel Birnbaum, CEO of SodaStream. “These improvements elevate the SodaStream experience to a whole new level, and will help increase our household penetration and user loyalty. Innovations like these empower consumers to enjoy the many compelling benefits that continue to drive the SodaStream revolution.”
About SodaStream
SodaStream manufactures beverage carbonation systems, which enable consumers to easily transform ordinary tap water instantly into carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water.
Soda makers offer a highly differentiated and innovative solution to consumers of bottled and canned carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water. Our products are environmentally friendly, cost effective, promote health and wellness, and are customizable and fun to use.
In addition, our products offer convenience by eliminating the need to carry bottles home from the supermarket, to store bottles at home or to regularly dispose of empty bottles. Our products are available at more than 50,000 retail stores in 42 countries around the world.
A Sodastream home carbonator bottle is displayed next to trash it can replace at the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago on Monday, March 7, 2011. Tens of thousands of new products were introduced by 1,950 exhibitors in at one of the industry’s largest trade shows which comprised 13 miles of aisles. Nestled among the sleek coffee makers and colorful new blenders at a major housewares trade show are a handful of products which aim to prove that buying something new can actually make less waste.
