In 2006, Sodastream (Soda Club) tried to disallow a third party company refilling bottles of carbonic acid by claiming that the bottles were actually still “their” property and not that of the customer who had purchased them.
This didn’t work in Germany, possibly setting precedent in many other countries. Like all markets, this one certainly needs competition both for the sake of the environment (bottles should be refilled in the store an operation that takes a mere 20 seconds) and to lower prices which could easily be reduced by half. This being stated, sparkling water made at home already costs but a fraction of store purchased carbonated water and or other carbonated drinks. Things certainly could be a lot better.
Here are the interesting facts:
https://www.bundeskartellamt.de
April 13, 2006
