In 1903, SodaStream was born. It was a carbonation system invented by Giles Gilby that made standard water into fizzy water and was originally sold to the upper classes. In the 1920s, different flavours were introduced. These included sarsaparilla and cherry ciderette. In countries such as Germany, Australia, and the UK it enjoyed vast success In the 1970s and 80s.

The company underwent numerous changes in ownership, at one stage even being part of the Cadbury Schweppes empire. 1998 saw the company change hands for the final time when purchased by Soda Club, which at that time was the biggest supplier of SodaStream to Israel. SodaStream remained the name of the brand after Soda Club’s unsuccessful bid to change the name to Soda-Club.

More recently Soda Club sought to change the SodaStream brand. SodaStream was relaunched along with a new machine and many more new flavours, concentrating on being a healthy alternative to fizzy, sugar-rich drinks such as Coca Cola and Pepsi, and focused on health and diet issues so prevalent in this day and age.

Fundamentally, the SodaStream product is a home carbonation kit, which allows you to change water into sparkling water, as well as allowing you to add low-calorie flavours such as cola and orange. A large assortment of calorie-free flavours to flavour sparkling water to great taste is sold at allfreightfree.com.

The SodaStream machine works by forcing co2 into a bottle suitable for pressurising and which is filled with water. The co2 turns the water into carbonated (sparkling) water. This process (dissolving co2) is referred to as carbonation. The carbonated water can then be drunk on its own as sparkling water, or mixed with flavours to create tasty, healthy treats. Once the co2 canisters have been used up they can be sent back to Soda-Club who recycle the canisters by refilling them with co2 then sending them back out.

Regarding actual health and diet benefits gained from drinking SodaStream, the company asserts that all their flavours are completely sugar-free and contain a maximum of 2 calories per 100ml; this is, assuredly, good news for every parent concerned about a child’s diet.

The SodaStream machine adds only co2 to the water, meaning it does not have the added sugar that some bottled sparkling water contains; consequently, there is little difference between it and normal water.

SodaStream have made much of their environmental and health credentials, going so far as to say that every single litre bottle of SodaStream made saves three aluminum cans. This, in turn, means that over 3 years, a family of four could slash their soft-drink-related packaging usage by over 90%. This is an attractive claim, one that in this environmentally conscious age will stand them in good stead. It is obvious that Sodastream has developed into a realistic alternative to the big players in the soft drink world.