0:00 Big Soda At Work 2:19 Consumers Wising Up 5:42 Triumph of Science 8:09 Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo 10:00 The Industry's Reckoning 12:45 The Chosen One 15:51 Long Way Home 18:47 New Players, Same Threats 19:18 A Future of Known Unknowns Viewers may find some clips in this episode to be pixelated and low quality (480p at best or 240p at worst). It was an intentional decision to use pre-2010's footage for certain segments. I felt it would be a more authentic viewing experience to use footage directly from the era that this episode covers - notably the mid 2000's when Internet was dial-up, information was communicated exclusively through magazines or cable news, and Americans were coming to terms for the first time with obesity / nutrition / health / diet. *Topics that didn't make the final cut of this episode to read after watching:* - M&A is truly the tool of corporate America. Pepsi did acquire SodaStream in 2018 for ~$3B in an effort to bring sparkling waters directly into consumers' homes as a few commenters have kindly shared their experience below. To me, SodaStream's at-home sparkling water maker (having a machine that can carbonate your water and consumers mix in the syrups / flavors they want) is eerily similar of Keurig's Kold at-home soda maker. Kold was eventually discontinued due to product issues and too high of a price point at ~$350. SodaStream on the other hand has a significantly more favorable entry point (starting at ~$100). - It's interesting that both SodaStream and Kold have elements of the old HP printer model, where consumers pay for one fixed $$$ cost upfront (machine) but have to regularly spend $-$$ over the lifespan of the product to continue using the product (gas canisters with SodaStream, pods for Kold / normal Keurig, ink cartridges for printers). - To me, the appeal of sparkling water consumption is the opening of the physical aluminum can that's identical to soda. That crack and sip sound is engrained deep and primed in consumer psychology as a satisfying sound. I can't speak for SodaStream or Keurig, but the notion of filling up a mug or Hydroflask with sparkling water without that cracking opening the can feels like it would take away from some of the appeal. - Topo Chico was acquired by Coca-Cola for ~$220M, which has a cult following in Texas. But the strategy Coca-Cola is taking Topo Chico sparkling mineral water these days is less in La Croix / bubly / AHA's direction and more in the alcoholic Truly / WhiteClaw / High Noon hard seltzer market. - In the context of United Airlines only serving bubly comment, I'm fairly confident what's happening with La Croix is that it's losing its seat at the table when it comes to B2B institutional deals, where PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have a much more established sales network and stronger existing relationships with corporate clients. If I put myself in the shoes of a major airline, hotel, restaurant, gas station or any business that sells beverages for $$$, it is far easier for me to procure all my beverages (soft drinks, juice, sparkling water, bottled plain water, diet soda) through 1 single contract with PepsiCo or Coca-Cola. In return, I'll probably get a discount because of my exclusivity with PepsiCo or Coca-Cola so my beverage profit margins are even better + consumers will get what they want. - If I really want La Croix in my business, I have to sign my own contract with National Beverage which adds operational overhead and supply chain complexity when I don't need it - while they can give me a leading sparkling water brand and some juices, I would still need another entirely different supplier to give me my plain bottled water, soft drinks, diet sodas and more. I'm sure the same is playing out in grocery stores where La Croix's shelf-space is being eaten away by Bubly and AHA as Big Soda can easily cut deals with the supermarkets to get the best shelves / aisles / exposures. - Not sure why international expansion is not a strategic investment for National Beverage Corporation. Big Soda has made APAC and EMEA as its most strategic high-growth markets and the demand for sugary soda in those regions has not declined (in some cases, has even gone up) vs. America. As the episode says, sparkling water seems to still be mostly an American phenomenon.
that's not what they said. they said that sugary drinks don't contribute any more to a glucose spike than any other sugar-containing food (which, as you know, includes carbs!) that's not a lie.
IT doesn't though lack of control does... Like I almost was diabatic but then moderated my intake to around 40mg a day and was fine... So saying sugary drinks is the sole cause and most be banned becuase of it will get people like me killed who do need them to get the majority of our calories which you do need to survive like sugar unlike what some people think. Edit Spelling
Another thing that la croix needs to get on is restaurant sales. I've NEVER seen the option to buy la croix at a restaurant in non-canned form. You can't get it at soda fountains or in your glass at sit down restaurants. For a lot of people I know, these restaurant visits and the ONLY time they have soft drinks. If they can't get a la croix there, they'll never drink it at all.
It never even remotely crossed my mind that soda might be a temporary thing that society eventually outgrows. It's always felt like a staple of society, an immovable, irreplaceable axiom of modern life. The last few decades have shown that it's entirely possible that sugary soda might eventually decline to a specialty item over the next century. To me, that's an odd thing to consider, since "fizzy water with light flavoring" is incredibly unappealing. But that's just me.
Cut the middleman out and stick with water, tea and coffee if you like. Flavored sparkling water is for parties and sugar soda is not even allowed in my house. That shit is just bad for you.
I think la croix is nigh tasteless and prefer san pelligrino anyway. But I quit soda back in 2008 and can count on one hand the number of times I've had it since.
Another hit against La Corix in especially Europe is that the sparkling water market already is saturated. The market is filled with alternatives, even Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have their local brands and partners.
In the states, you can buy Bubly which is pretty much the same thing as Lacroix, it’s cheaper, and it’s owned by Pepsi. Would imagine coke has one too, but I dont stay up to date on a nasty soda company lol Not that Pepsi isn’t nasty, but my ex drank those and I was wondering which corporate conglomerate owned it
@@wesleylowe4256 maybe im just a snob, but Bubly tastes nothing like lacroix to me. Also lacroix has much better flavors like apricot, mango, peach pear, guava, etc.
@@wrong1029 ye I’d say bubly is def meant to be a cheaper alternative, I’m usually just seeing flavored like grape, cherry, maybe lime/citrus. That being said, they are both just carbonated water and natural Fruit flavorings
I was surprised you didn't mention the "sparkling" insurgence into other beverage industries such as beer and alcohol. Brands like White Claw leading the charge that then prompted the rise in other sparkling or seltzers in brands like Bud Light, Dos Equis, as well as non-alcoholic brands like TopoChico
Sparkling water has a long history in Europe, but also flavored sparkling water has been booming at least in Scandinavia for literally decades. It was only a matter of time (~15 years it seems) before America or someone else caught on. Interesting thing about the Scandinavian market is that the brands mostly stay within their country of origin. Like you **can** get the Swedish Ramlösa in Norway (and sometimes even Stenkulla), but the market there is definitely cornered by the Norwegian Farris and their lime/lemongrass and mango/orange flavors
here in the Netherlands it came in steps. like sure both regular as sparkling water have been there for years. in the late 90's early 00's you had things like Aquarius water. (more water downed sodas) during the late 00's and 10's you hade things like Spa with fruit. but like the last few years you also have seen the rise of sparkling/flat water with only fruit aroma. that latest version is booming. and that is pure water with a smell. showing that for flavour you only need to fool the nose for most.
La croix isn’t the only brand of sparkling water available in the US. There are so many options available here, with so many different flavors to choose from. Also seltzer has been around in the US for nearly as long as Europe, it’s just gaining more popularity now
haha I was just about to comment this living in southern sweden myself, it's still marketed as to grandmas and not as edgy as La Croix, The ramlösa with mango etc is AMAZING and easily the best by far.
Mineral water has a long history in europe, but sparkling water is not mineral water. Sparkling water is carbonated only, it is highly acidic and often contains no minerals, so it ends up stealing calcium from wherever it can, like your teeth and bones. Mineral water, while it is also bubbly, is a very different thing. Mineral water has all sorts of dissolved gasses like nitrogen and carbon, and then it gets run through underground stone rivers, where it picks up basic minerals and makes the ph more neutral. Mineral water is really good for you, sparkling water is really bad for you
Ever fresh is a giant brand. They have orange juice at every gas station in the whole country. Most liquor stores too. It was probably what made the most of their money before Lacroix took off
Thank for the note Zachary! Grew up frugal and low-income so was not exposed to gas stations and liquor stores, much less their beverage sections until much later on in life. Caprisun, Tree Top, Tropicana, Minute Maid, Kern were the juices that given out during school. Only once did we get those small round bottles of Martinellis and those were a big deal.
Thank you for the correction! To clarify - I should have said international expansion is not a strategic investment for National Beverage Corporation. The company operates internationally today but with extremely limited partners and distribution channels. The countries / geographical territories at which La Croix is carried in are also unknown / unreported which is a big deviation from other beverage companies who designate APAC and EMEA sales as critical high-growth markets. From all accounts based on National Beverage Corporation's SEC filings (press releases, financials, exec reports), America still remains first and foremost the main market. This reason is likely also why Wall St has soured on the company's potential - analysts likely expected the company to do far more to snowball the 30+% annual growth during the 2015-2018 into future years. See the pinned comment for more closing thoughts on this topic.
@@timothyoswaldtei3047 100% its just as insidiuous too. Just like cigarettes, even the most health conscious natural diet people i know were hooked on soda back in the day. People really were lied to about how horrible it was.
I've never had a parent. And I'm 59... did fine ignoring idiots telling me how to exist properly. You are afraid to die with bad bloodwork.. good luck with living a life
right?! That whole bit was great deflection. That repeat astonished question "should it be regulated??!" with that head tilt... masterful. I just found this channel and have been binging his catalogue. great stuff
While it is true that too few people exercise as much as they should to keep healthy, Big Soda approached this in a way that clearly was not going to work. "Soft drinks do no more to blood sugar than any other food or beverage" is such an absolutely baffling statement. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but that in 2010 I'm sure that was still as bad. With that much invested in sugar-filled drinks, wonder if there could've been a better way to approach this. As Coke or Pepsi, you can't jump out ahead of this before it becomes an issue - you reduce the sugar, people like it less, and buy less ; you reduce container sizes to reduce per unit calories, people complain the container isn't big enough and drink the same, no real changes to health; you release more diet options, but you still have the sugary products as your real money maker. I personally don't drink soda, but did drink nothing but sugary drinks as a kid. I may be biased in seeing a decline in soda here, but it has become infrequent that I meet someone my age who drinks soda. The beverage market for my age group seems to have moved to energy drinks, teas, and flavored sparkling water. Coca cola still gets some money from me for Topo Chico, but even still that's such a simple product that it could possibly be replaced as a staple for me. Coke and Pepsi, simply put, are no longer mainstays for me and people I know.
I will never get people’s obsession with drinking anything and everything except water. People’s fear of drinking water is worrying. I’m so glad that I was not conditioned as a kid to have a fizzy drink with every one of my meal. I know it’s going to be hard but people should really learn to be content with drinking water, your wallet and health will thank you for it.
I tried drinking only water for a month (for reference, I normally drink caffeine-free and sugar-free soda). Everyone said it was going to be a huge change, I'd feel so good, etc. I didn't notice any difference except that I had to force myself to stay hydrated. It also didn't help that the local tap water tastes like bleach, so I ended up buying my water from the same aisle as the soda. I think the problem with soda is almost all from the sugar, and secondarily the caffeine. I avoid them both for a reason.
There’s a huge risk with drinking tap water, it’s got chlorine, metals, minerals, and likely some highly resistant bacteria/viruses. Plus the risk of being poisoned because of a chemical leak somewhere. And if you’re going to the store to buy a pack of waters, then why not grab a pack of *more exciting* waters, with bubbles and flavors in them?
@@andreirachko I'm not sure the statistics bear out that conclusion. Most municipal water is pretty safe, if not necessarily tasty. Generally, if it's safe to take a bath in, it's safe to drink. The risk isn't zero, but "huge risk" is definitely stretching it unless you're in Flint.
@@andreirachko You could get a kettle to boil water. We usually have a kettle of water boiled at all times and once it gets lukewarm, we just put in a few large glass pitchers that way we always have boiled water. The trick is to always boil a kettle of water right before you go to bed so that you have water in the morning and then you can boil another for your coffee. I live in NYC where the tap water quality is good but I grew up in an Asian household and we refuse to drink water straight out of the tap.
@@andreirachko so, no one has a fridge with a filter in it? I drink water almost exclusively. On occasion I have some iced tea, or coffee. It has never occurred to me that water wasn’t satisfying enough. My son is 5 and drinks water as his main beverage. He will have apple juice, or his new favorite Root Beer, only On occasion or if we are on vacation. But even then, he treats it like a snack. With meals, when he is thirsty, he specifically asks for water. Nothing satisfies thirst like a glass of water!
As someone who was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2019, I needed an alternative to Coke. I chose to drink sparkling water though I have not taken to the brand mentioned due to its higher cost compared to store branded flavored seltzer water. As I weaned myself off of sugar, I found the taste of seltzer water to be refreshing and not as startling as it was at first. Now almost four years later, I drink seltzer water exclusively changing up on the flavor and when a flavor I like goes on sale that is not a house brand, I treat myself to that. Over the course of nearly 4 years I've dropped and kept off 30 pounds and can assure you that Coke and other such beverages is essentially a death sentence on a long delayed fuse. These are damaging drinks and that doesn't even consider the harm of high fructose corn syrup on your liver (fatty liver).
I gave up soda long ago. My replacement is the occasional water downed ice tea at restaurants. My real go to for that hit of fizz is kombucha. That stuff has few calories and way more interesting flavours.
I pretty much kicked soft drinks to the curb at least a decade ago, and started drinking only club soda, seltzer water, or distilled water. I found it was the bubbles that I liked, not all the flavorings and chemicals. Plus, they give me my daily water quota without having to resort so soda AND water. I'll have a Diet Coke every now and then, or add a squeeze of lemon or lime to my seltzer, but soda is no longer the first thing that I reach for to quench my thirst. As well, I've noticed that the quality of Coke/Pepsi has taken a major nosedive recently. Used to have a LOT of flavor/syrup, and be dark brown in color, but no more. It;s the color of tea. Yuck.
I also grew up in MN as well and I agree. When I moved to Texas in 2014 I was able to witness the rise in popularity. All my friends hated La Croix when I offered it back in 2014-2015, but now it's always in their fridge. 😅
I'm from MN and work at a grocery store, and I can count the number of times I've seen someone actually buying or drinking LaCroix on my fingers. Most people I've ever heard mention it despise it.
This must be a very US thing because I live in Southwestern Ontario, Canada and have never heard of Le Croix. Seltzer or sparkling water has become marginally more popular in the last 5 -ish years but I wouldn't say it's going to edge out sodas anytime soon. People are drinking noticeably less soda and artificially sweetened drinks. I've also noticed smaller portions being a trend.
I've seen La Croix ("la-craw") around in southeastern Ont but it lags behind other sparkling water brands, and not many people here drink sparkling water who aren't trying to quit pop
I live in British Columbia, and la croix is in every grocery store. Although, I recently traveled to the states, and they had a lot more flavours to choose from.
Recently found this channel and binged all your videos. This is really excellent content and I appreciate all the work that goes into the history & analysis of companies & industries. Just a thought for the future: I think it would also be valuable if there was content where you gave insight into your process in making these videos and/or walked us through how you go about doing the analysis. After all, your channel is called Modern MBA. That’s something I would even pay for!
Poland here. We don't seem to have La Croix sold here, but every major polish water/drinks company (Maspex owning Tymbark, Danone owning Żywiec Zdrój etc.) are lauching products like that. So yeah, seltzers do seems to be getting on popularity worldwide.
As someone who like soda, less consumption of soda is definitely a nice trend. It's not a huge problem for me(not not a problem, I am slightly overweight, but not a huge one) as it's pretty much my only form of sugar intake--I don't really eat snacks nor deserts. The next highest source of sugar is probably from the bread/dough of subs and pizzas I eat. Soda company is sort of right in saying that it is an overall life style issue, you will probably be fine if you only have one "vice", but most people have many. It is totally bullshit to say soda is not a significant contributor though, all of the vices contribute, soda more than most. I find it... problematic for you to only post % growth charts and not volume growth charts. For all I know, the sub 1% growth that Coke have could be more volume than the 25% of La Croix etc due to the huge base volume they ship. As it were, coke and pepsi have long reached a certain degree of market saturation such lack of growth isn't even a problem, their only fear is significant drop in consumption or market share.
@@3n3j0t4 Ok, overweight isn't always an indication of bad health, if he were obese however that would be different. And hell, even if he were obese there's not much you could say to change him. The road to help starts with oneself, not outside forces.
Used to make fun of La Croix until I realized how awful soda is for you (still love soda, just stopped drinking it) and what a good substitute it is. I've recently switched to the Kirkland sparkling water though.
Sparkling water and mineral water is amazing. Its actually hydrates you and feels good to drink. I drink soda now a days and it makes me feel like crap.
@@Tofuey yep. Spring water is the solution. Anyone who says ‘water is just water’ is just spouting misinformation. Spring water contains natural electrolytes and minerals that actively rehydrate you, which isn’t true of filtered tap water. (Don’t get me started on unfiltered tap water)
I’ve actually started drinking a lot more zero sugar mineral waters and I’m drinking coke and pepsi less than ever… they’re just so good and don’t overwhelm the pallet
I love how in all these charts sales just tank in 2020 and we all know why sales so badly went down, it really tells us how badly impacted everyone around the globe was by the pandemic.
It’s great that people drink slightly flavoured sparkling water instead of soda/pop but even as a guy who was never habitually drinking pop I’ve tried these drinks like La Croix, Bubbly, etc and they’re just so underwhelming. In no way do they replace the odd craving for a coke or sprite.
I don't even drink soda from big soda brands when I do drink soda (not counting corporate buyouts of said companies.. because I don't know everything about every small brand I've had). There's soo much small soda companies that are fun to try when I want to have soda (which is rare but... hand me some cream, root beer..etc.. instead of coke or pepsi.. That said- I'm obviously watching this because I like your videos :)
I didn't realize the UK didn't see LaCroix in stores. I feel like it's one of the more well known sparkling water brands in the US. It's not necessarily marketing that makes it well known as much as its price in the US. Especially when we compare it to other brands of sparkling water.
To be fair, what Big Soda says is technically true. Soft drinks don't contribute to obesity uniquely, and it's a matter of how much calories you consume vs how much you burn. A person leading an active lifestyle can drink cola daily and not get fat. The problem is that soft drinks are basically sugar that is easier to consume than in any other form. So they make it very easy to ingest more calories than you spend.
Sparkling water has always been popular in Europe. But we prefer it straight and rely on a good spring or mineral water. The flavored sparkling water was a fad that never really took on. Maybe it's more available in the UK.
Soda, sweet tea, juice, etc. have always been too saccharine for my tastes, but all these various "fizzy waters" somehow manage to taste blander than regular old H2O. Maybe I'm just picky, but I've always been content merely drinking water when I'm thirsty.
Fizzy water has an inherrant bitter flavor, caused by the carbon itself. Even soda has this, but it's masked by all the sugar. That's why fizzy water has a strange flavor compared to regular H2O. It's an acquired taste though. People who like fizzy water grew to enjoy the taste.
I have strongly disliked any sparkling water I've ever tried. But I also am just generally not fond of carbonated beverages in general but interesting to see how much it blew up.
In Sweden We’ve had a very large selection of flavored sparkling water for as long as I can remember. It will probably be hard for Lacroix to expands to Europe since we already have many established brands.
To be fair to Coke's former European president, what would you expect him to say in that situation. Obviously Coca Cola plans to stay in business and changing the formula to reduce the amount of sugar will make their customers angry (new coke was a massive failure). Coke has in fact made many alternatives with lower sugar (Coke life, Coke Zero, Coke no Sugar) and consumers are well aware that Soda isn't healthy.
Its why you need regulations. If the governments regulated less sugar; all companies and corps have to follow suit. Ensuring no one has an advantage or can take market share. Now these regulations are never perfect. Another issue is that executives usually work at a corporation for a few years then go to another one and focus on short term profits. Most of them never focus on long term sustainability and growth as that is the culture of corporate and the mega wealthy. They would never think to suggest such ideas even if it benefited the company years to come.
@@MasterGhostf it is regulated!.. this is why the ingredients and amounts of all these negative chemicals and compounds are clearly listed.. I don't see what the issue is here!.. you want the government to control even people's sugar intake!? Full grown adults? Are we not clearly aware? Is it not clearly listed what's in there? Is it not enough for you to control yourself?
@@dylanb4065 actually they have ways of making it harder to clearly know all the ingredients and now the big processed food corps are lobbying to make it even harder to know what's actually in your food. You are totally naive if you think they won't use every dirty trick in the book.
Crazy to think that I could drink a whole soda in an hour in a half to 2 hours watching a movie in a theater, just few years a go. Thinking about that makes me 🤢
Another great video. So excited to see this channel grow. Keen to see future topics! Constructive feedback if you would like it: Felt this one at the start and the airbnb one ran a bit too long regarding the interviews, instead of you summarising points and showing highlights like your McDonalds video
Thank you Dean. I genuinely appreciate your note and support - would love constructive feedback. Do you think the interview clips themselves ran way too long and/or could have been removed out entirely in both eps?
@@ModernMBA Great question, I think seeing the real interviews shows reality, so I wouldn't remove them, but maybe editing them down into a collage, or just the main soundbites how you do the news cast sections? Just my opinion, obviously you're doing things right to get so much support in the comments. Literally my favourite new channel.
@@thealienrobotanthropologist Don't disagree, but I think as he grows people are going to be attached to him, and they may get disengaged by multiple minutes away from his voice and narration, specifically when the people being interviewed aren't likable or engaging like in this video. Video analytics will be able to tell him if people drop off through, so I'd be against any major changes until there's enough data.
Diet sodas are also correlated to obesity and death. Drink unflavored water with food. Food must be used a healthy drug, otherwise pleasure foods may act as an unhealthy drug.
I work for pepsi, and I love how how pepsi tells us that their naked drink is healthy. The green machine has 53 grams of sugar in that tiny bottle. A gram is a cube of sugar, and there is 53 cubes in the green machine lol
@@AlcorSolaire good lol. Let them come. "We heard that you told people how much sugar are in our drinks, stop!!!" Me, gives them the finger and walks away
Here in Canada, Bubly (by PepsiCo) is advertised by Canadian singer Michael Bublé. His last name sounds like the drink name and he plays on it, calling it "Bublé" while people around him try to correct him
Rip It is an energy drink brand and surprisingly has a cult following among US veterans of the wars/operations in the middle east since it was available for free at the chow halls
I feel like it's remiss to not note how expensive fruit juice has gotten - the price, not the sugar content, is why nobody I know buys juice any longer. Maybe that's just from being a Canadian though, which probably also explains why I've never seen a La Croix ad, ever. I thought they gained popularity as the packaging being joked about as being "wow, so vaporwave/ a e s t h e t i c" - kind of like what happened with Fiji water.
First time I heard an someone from the US talk about this brand I didn't know what he was talking about. But when he wrote it down I went "ooh!". They pronounce it Lacro-y, while I always pronounced it French (the cross) La-cro-a.
Omg!!! I love lacroix and my friends and family know I always have one in hand. Hahaha even right now in my apartment I probably have 50 cans and about 10-12 in the fridge right now. It has majorly helped me leave soda in the past.
Maybe this goes beyond the scope of this video, but I would've liked to hear about what the carbonated water space looked like before LaCroix's explosion. Personally, I remember as a kid my dad would buy these tall bottles of San Pellegrino to drink at dinner so that we felt fancier than we actually were lol
Legislation and taxation against soda consumption is kept at a local level? Good. Keep it that way. I don't want america to turn into a nanny state like my country has
The interview with the coke exec seemed fine? Coca cola is in the business of selling beverages. They objectively state how many grams of sugar are in a drink to inform a consumer, the consumer needs to do their own research and decide if they want to continue making unhealthy choices or not. For those that want to enjoy a heavy sugar drink time to time, they can enjoy it it freely, while those that do not exert self-control have to deal with consequences.
I was painting my food truck and listening to this video when it came out and I got distracted and the paint went into the speakers since my phone was in my chest pocket and I had black paint in the microphone and speakers until I got a new phone.
I personally am an AHA (coke) and bubbly (Pepsi) sparkling water fan. I was a soda addict for my whole life. Enough to take my enamel off my teeth. I switched to sparkling water and my health improved so much. However. It appears I’m still giving the same people money but I really like their zesty beverages. So. I’ll keep buying them until I’m dead
I would have more respect for these companies if they just blatantly admitted that "Yes our product can contribute to obesity and diabetes; that's why you should only consume it in moderation."
I did also start drinking flavored Sparkly water (lemon) and it helped me replace Soda and beer with a healthy alternative. I actually even dropped the flavored sparkly water to regular sparkly water, as we usually drink soda to water down our food, but sparkly water does it just as well. I lost a TON of weight... I usually have a dozen sparkly water in my fridge, but yesterday I ran out of it and it felt awful...I might be addicted to it.. But well, it is not a bad addiction, is it? It is carbonated water...
Soda has been a hard habit to break, but so worth it. Though pricing helps to reduce buying it. For me its about $7-8 per 12 pack, which for me turns it from an occasional splurge to a luxury item. Be it inflation, taxes, or overpricing, there comes a point where I'd rather just drink water or juice.
I tried an orange "flavored" LaCroix recently for the first time and it smelled of orange and tasted of baking soda. Safe to say I won't be trying it again
There is so many different flavors you can pick from. I am sure they have one that you will love. I have tried all of them and really love only 3 flavors.
This is tricky. I see what the big soda reps are implying. You could have soda or ice cream or whatever you deem unhealthy literally everyday and as long as you don’t go over your maintenance calories you wouldn’t become obese. In reality tho obese people are typically over consuming these high calorie junk foods specifically. It’s not like they’re becoming fat by eating rice chicken and broccoli.
As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry their entire life, I think its really really funny that people make videos like this proclaiming the death of soda. Soda is going nowhere I hate to break it to you guys. People arent ordering less soda from me they're ordering the same amount as always. Soda water is a fad and it will be gone in 2 years and soda will be right back in the fridges. Especially when they figure out how to make it less acidic but just as sweet.
Totally! On the other hand, we got accustomed to their butchering of Detroit, Illinois and New Orleans. Makes me wonder why they don't pronounce Des Moines "Dess Moyneez"
Here in Czech republic we have huge selection of flavored fizzy waters since 90ties... you get literally any flavor here from elderberry, chestnut, rosemary, white grapes, pear, mojito flavored, herbal flavors, literally any fruit ... I don't understand what is the big deal... this has been going on in Europe for decades....
Saying that Coca-Cola sales have plummeted in the 2010's ignores 1 HUGE fact - in 2010, they bought their largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises (who was on the verge of bankruptcy due to debt), which added billions of dollars of "sales" to Coca-Cola's top line in 2010 and 2011. Then, over the next decade, Coca-Cola sold off pieces of that bottler to more financially secure partners. If you ignore the acquisition/divestiture, sales have been inching up at a low-single digit rate. This is a far cry from the high-single-digit growth seen in the 1980's and 1990's, but it is respectable for a multination consumer products company.
I love coke. I am aware of its high sugar content and any person with minimum wits would know that it's not exactly a health drink. Just drink in moderation. Even water is toxic if you down a jug in one sitting. Too much of anything is bad.
La Croix is a great product, it's cheap, has a lot of personal choice (as to what flavors you get) and lets you fill that soda craving without any gross sugar or chemicals.
I've seen Lacroix but never thought anything of it. It's crazy people still drink any of these! In the early 90s, I heard soda was bad for you, so I stopped and never looked back. Lacroix isn't gonna change that. It's regular "reverse osmosis" water for me.
Don't want to defend coca cola representative in an interview, but what was so bad about it? As far as i'm aware pretty much every country has a law that forces manufacturers print the composition and calories of the product. Everybody knows sugary drinks and junk food will negatively affect your health and looks. No one is hiding it, including coca cola. It's your responsibility to look after yourself and decide what to consume. And thats exactly what he said. Am i missing something?
i will never understand how anyone can like la croix it tastes like the feeling you get from hitting your funny bone mixed withthe sensation of your leg falling asleep
I was hooked to Coke and sparkling water may have saved me (the overall diet and losing 100 lbs helped, too). I now use a soda stream just for bubble water.
Im absolutely OBSESSED and haven’t stopped drinking several ICE a day for the last three years. Getting it delivered to my home every few days has been a game changer. After a decade of no bubbly, it was exciting to put that FIZZZZZZZ back into my daily life. Bc let’s face it, sparkling bubbles ARE FUN and to partake without sugar is a match made in heaven. This this sugar free water trend isnt going anywhere anytime soon!
It seems like it's slowly begun in Europe, In Amsterdam I've been drinking a local brand called "Charlie's". I didn't even realise there was such a huge amount of consumption in the US, but I've found myself picking one up every evening so it really wouldn't surprise me if the trends follows here too.
Rip it is also a huge part of their revenue. It’s the energy drink found at every military installation. I drank tons of them while deployed to Afghanistan. Ever fresh is at every gas station I’ve ever stepped foot I to. These were likely the top sellers before the lacroix boom. 13:40
@@PointNemo9 I don't need to learn anything you condescending fuck. If the company that owns La Croix says it's pronounced that way - then it's pronounced that way.
I remember getting teased in high school for drinking LaCroix. Someone tried it and said it was gross. Nowadays I'm fairly certain all of them drink it on a regular basis. Jokes on them. (I brought it to school because my stomach would be in knots in the morning and seltzer was the only thing that made it go away)
Yeah, people are mostly sheep. Tell them something is cool and they'll do it with a huge smile and act dumbfounded if you ask why they didn't like that thing before it was cool. lol
0:00 Big Soda At Work
2:19 Consumers Wising Up
5:42 Triumph of Science
8:09 Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo
10:00 The Industry's Reckoning
12:45 The Chosen One
15:51 Long Way Home
18:47 New Players, Same Threats
19:18 A Future of Known Unknowns
Viewers may find some clips in this episode to be pixelated and low quality (480p at best or 240p at worst). It was an intentional decision to use pre-2010's footage for certain segments. I felt it would be a more authentic viewing experience to use footage directly from the era that this episode covers - notably the mid 2000's when Internet was dial-up, information was communicated exclusively through magazines or cable news, and Americans were coming to terms for the first time with obesity / nutrition / health / diet.
*Topics that didn't make the final cut of this episode to read after watching:*
- M&A is truly the tool of corporate America. Pepsi did acquire SodaStream in 2018 for ~$3B in an effort to bring sparkling waters directly into consumers' homes as a few commenters have kindly shared their experience below. To me, SodaStream's at-home sparkling water maker (having a machine that can carbonate your water and consumers mix in the syrups / flavors they want) is eerily similar of Keurig's Kold at-home soda maker. Kold was eventually discontinued due to product issues and too high of a price point at ~$350. SodaStream on the other hand has a significantly more favorable entry point (starting at ~$100).
- It's interesting that both SodaStream and Kold have elements of the old HP printer model, where consumers pay for one fixed $$$ cost upfront (machine) but have to regularly spend $-$$ over the lifespan of the product to continue using the product (gas canisters with SodaStream, pods for Kold / normal Keurig, ink cartridges for printers).
- To me, the appeal of sparkling water consumption is the opening of the physical aluminum can that's identical to soda. That crack and sip sound is engrained deep and primed in consumer psychology as a satisfying sound. I can't speak for SodaStream or Keurig, but the notion of filling up a mug or Hydroflask with sparkling water without that cracking opening the can feels like it would take away from some of the appeal.
- Topo Chico was acquired by Coca-Cola for ~$220M, which has a cult following in Texas. But the strategy Coca-Cola is taking Topo Chico sparkling mineral water these days is less in La Croix / bubly / AHA's direction and more in the alcoholic Truly / WhiteClaw / High Noon hard seltzer market.
- In the context of United Airlines only serving bubly comment, I'm fairly confident what's happening with La Croix is that it's losing its seat at the table when it comes to B2B institutional deals, where PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have a much more established sales network and stronger existing relationships with corporate clients. If I put myself in the shoes of a major airline, hotel, restaurant, gas station or any business that sells beverages for $$$, it is far easier for me to procure all my beverages (soft drinks, juice, sparkling water, bottled plain water, diet soda) through 1 single contract with PepsiCo or Coca-Cola. In return, I'll probably get a discount because of my exclusivity with PepsiCo or Coca-Cola so my beverage profit margins are even better + consumers will get what they want.
- If I really want La Croix in my business, I have to sign my own contract with National Beverage which adds operational overhead and supply chain complexity when I don't need it - while they can give me a leading sparkling water brand and some juices, I would still need another entirely different supplier to give me my plain bottled water, soft drinks, diet sodas and more. I'm sure the same is playing out in grocery stores where La Croix's shelf-space is being eaten away by Bubly and AHA as Big Soda can easily cut deals with the supermarkets to get the best shelves / aisles / exposures.
- Not sure why international expansion is not a strategic investment for National Beverage Corporation. Big Soda has made APAC and EMEA as its most strategic high-growth markets and the demand for sugary soda in those regions has not declined (in some cases, has even gone up) vs. America. As the episode says, sparkling water seems to still be mostly an American phenomenon.
Can I ask how you learned to analyse like this?
Remember to fix this Comment!
You should pin this
Great points !!
Good video as always. Congratulations! Can you please do a video on Zoom or Google? That would be interesting
as a diebetic, seeing people say that sugary drinks don’t contribute to blood sugar makes me wanna cry
that's not what they said. they said that sugary drinks don't contribute any more to a glucose spike than any other sugar-containing food (which, as you know, includes carbs!) that's not a lie.
they say it doesn't contribute in a specific unique way
I agree with you. I eat between 25-40 g of carbs a day to keep my BG in check. I feel so much better.
IT doesn't though lack of control does... Like I almost was diabatic but then moderated my intake to around 40mg a day and was fine... So saying sugary drinks is the sole cause and most be banned becuase of it will get people like me killed who do need them to get the majority of our calories which you do need to survive like sugar unlike what some people think. Edit Spelling
You do know You don't have to drink it if you think its bad for you right? It's your choice
Another thing that la croix needs to get on is restaurant sales. I've NEVER seen the option to buy la croix at a restaurant in non-canned form. You can't get it at soda fountains or in your glass at sit down restaurants. For a lot of people I know, these restaurant visits and the ONLY time they have soft drinks. If they can't get a la croix there, they'll never drink it at all.
It never even remotely crossed my mind that soda might be a temporary thing that society eventually outgrows. It's always felt like a staple of society, an immovable, irreplaceable axiom of modern life. The last few decades have shown that it's entirely possible that sugary soda might eventually decline to a specialty item over the next century. To me, that's an odd thing to consider, since "fizzy water with light flavoring" is incredibly unappealing. But that's just me.
Being obese is also unappealing.
Cut the middleman out and stick with water, tea and coffee if you like. Flavored sparkling water is for parties and sugar soda is not even allowed in my house. That shit is just bad for you.
I think la croix is nigh tasteless and prefer san pelligrino anyway.
But I quit soda back in 2008 and can count on one hand the number of times I've had it since.
@@mikzin630 beer is way worse
You gag when you drink water don't you.
Another hit against La Corix in especially Europe is that the sparkling water market already is saturated. The market is filled with alternatives, even Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have their local brands and partners.
In the states, you can buy Bubly which is pretty much the same thing as Lacroix, it’s cheaper, and it’s owned by Pepsi. Would imagine coke has one too, but I dont stay up to date on a nasty soda company lol
Not that Pepsi isn’t nasty, but my ex drank those and I was wondering which corporate conglomerate owned it
@@wesleylowe4256 maybe im just a snob, but Bubly tastes nothing like lacroix to me. Also lacroix has much better flavors like apricot, mango, peach pear, guava, etc.
@@wrong1029 ye I’d say bubly is def meant to be a cheaper alternative, I’m usually just seeing flavored like grape, cherry, maybe lime/citrus. That being said, they are both just carbonated water and natural
Fruit flavorings
@@wrong1029 Both are good but we can agree Aha water is ass
@@filetofish7688 never had it but it sounds bad 😂
I was surprised you didn't mention the "sparkling" insurgence into other beverage industries such as beer and alcohol. Brands like White Claw leading the charge that then prompted the rise in other sparkling or seltzers in brands like Bud Light, Dos Equis, as well as non-alcoholic brands like TopoChico
My first thought as well. Sparkling low-cal/sugar free drinks are a huge trend right now among all types of beverages.
they have pfas
You do know it's sparkling, right? With an L
@@TheBrandonn lol I do but I never caught the mistake. To make it worse, I did it twice in one comment. I’m dumb.
and they're all disgusting.
Sparkling water has a long history in Europe, but also flavored sparkling water has been booming at least in Scandinavia for literally decades. It was only a matter of time (~15 years it seems) before America or someone else caught on. Interesting thing about the Scandinavian market is that the brands mostly stay within their country of origin. Like you **can** get the Swedish Ramlösa in Norway (and sometimes even Stenkulla), but the market there is definitely cornered by the Norwegian Farris and their lime/lemongrass and mango/orange flavors
here in the Netherlands it came in steps. like sure both regular as sparkling water have been there for years.
in the late 90's early 00's you had things like Aquarius water. (more water downed sodas)
during the late 00's and 10's you hade things like Spa with fruit.
but like the last few years you also have seen the rise of sparkling/flat water with only fruit aroma.
that latest version is booming. and that is pure water with a smell.
showing that for flavour you only need to fool the nose for most.
I use to drink Perrier for the longest time
La croix isn’t the only brand of sparkling water available in the US. There are so many options available here, with so many different flavors to choose from. Also seltzer has been around in the US for nearly as long as Europe, it’s just gaining more popularity now
haha I was just about to comment this living in southern sweden myself, it's still marketed as to grandmas and not as edgy as La Croix, The ramlösa with mango etc is AMAZING and easily the best by far.
Mineral water has a long history in europe, but sparkling water is not mineral water. Sparkling water is carbonated only, it is highly acidic and often contains no minerals, so it ends up stealing calcium from wherever it can, like your teeth and bones. Mineral water, while it is also bubbly, is a very different thing. Mineral water has all sorts of dissolved gasses like nitrogen and carbon, and then it gets run through underground stone rivers, where it picks up basic minerals and makes the ph more neutral. Mineral water is really good for you, sparkling water is really bad for you
Ever fresh is a giant brand. They have orange juice at every gas station in the whole country. Most liquor stores too. It was probably what made the most of their money before Lacroix took off
Thank for the note Zachary! Grew up frugal and low-income so was not exposed to gas stations and liquor stores, much less their beverage sections until much later on in life. Caprisun, Tree Top, Tropicana, Minute Maid, Kern were the juices that given out during school. Only once did we get those small round bottles of Martinellis and those were a big deal.
Never seen this in scandinavia, looks like snapple though
Great video bud, FYI La Croix have been available in New Zealand supermarkets for a few years now, it is getting around. Love the stuff.
Great comment bud.
Thank you for the correction! To clarify - I should have said international expansion is not a strategic investment for National Beverage Corporation. The company operates internationally today but with extremely limited partners and distribution channels. The countries / geographical territories at which La Croix is carried in are also unknown / unreported which is a big deviation from other beverage companies who designate APAC and EMEA sales as critical high-growth markets.
From all accounts based on National Beverage Corporation's SEC filings (press releases, financials, exec reports), America still remains first and foremost the main market. This reason is likely also why Wall St has soured on the company's potential - analysts likely expected the company to do far more to snowball the 30+% annual growth during the 2015-2018 into future years.
See the pinned comment for more closing thoughts on this topic.
Can’t get it in Australia annoyingly
Holy $hit coca cola!! the fact that they could with a straight face suggest that sugary drinks arent correlated to obesity or bad health is INSANE!
It worked for big tobacco for decades, so it is no surprise that they ran from the same playbook.
Big Soda should be treated with the same public outrage and regulation as tobacco companies.
@@timothyoswaldtei3047 100% its just as insidiuous too. Just like cigarettes, even the most health conscious natural diet people i know were hooked on soda back in the day. People really were lied to about how horrible it was.
Cause it's true.
It's your own fault if you get fat and diabetic.
@@QuixEnd Then they are stupid. Everyone knows the health risks that are involved by consuming too much sugar. Even decades ago people knew that.
"That's a terrible business practice" to "that's what parents are for" my God that guys double speak is strong.
Love that clip at the end "that's what parents are for" lol. This is a great channel, your videos are amazing.
At least he handled it better than the other guy in his interview LMAO
I've never had a parent. And I'm 59... did fine ignoring idiots telling me how to exist properly.
You are afraid to die with bad bloodwork.. good luck with living a life
@@uhadme I wonder why people leave comments like this. For all you know DarlEng just found it funny. Is the desire to insult people that strong?
@@danielalorbi Looks like he's got a complex and got triggered so he had to post a condescending comment to feel better.
right?! That whole bit was great deflection. That repeat astonished question "should it be regulated??!" with that head tilt... masterful. I just found this channel and have been binging his catalogue. great stuff
I'm surprised there was no mention of flavored Shweppes or Polar. I always considered them long-time players in the flavored water market.
While it is true that too few people exercise as much as they should to keep healthy, Big Soda approached this in a way that clearly was not going to work. "Soft drinks do no more to blood sugar than any other food or beverage" is such an absolutely baffling statement. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but that in 2010 I'm sure that was still as bad.
With that much invested in sugar-filled drinks, wonder if there could've been a better way to approach this. As Coke or Pepsi, you can't jump out ahead of this before it becomes an issue - you reduce the sugar, people like it less, and buy less ; you reduce container sizes to reduce per unit calories, people complain the container isn't big enough and drink the same, no real changes to health; you release more diet options, but you still have the sugary products as your real money maker.
I personally don't drink soda, but did drink nothing but sugary drinks as a kid. I may be biased in seeing a decline in soda here, but it has become infrequent that I meet someone my age who drinks soda. The beverage market for my age group seems to have moved to energy drinks, teas, and flavored sparkling water. Coca cola still gets some money from me for Topo Chico, but even still that's such a simple product that it could possibly be replaced as a staple for me. Coke and Pepsi, simply put, are no longer mainstays for me and people I know.
I will never get people’s obsession with drinking anything and everything except water. People’s fear of drinking water is worrying. I’m so glad that I was not conditioned as a kid to have a fizzy drink with every one of my meal. I know it’s going to be hard but people should really learn to be content with drinking water, your wallet and health will thank you for it.
I tried drinking only water for a month (for reference, I normally drink caffeine-free and sugar-free soda). Everyone said it was going to be a huge change, I'd feel so good, etc. I didn't notice any difference except that I had to force myself to stay hydrated. It also didn't help that the local tap water tastes like bleach, so I ended up buying my water from the same aisle as the soda.
I think the problem with soda is almost all from the sugar, and secondarily the caffeine. I avoid them both for a reason.
There’s a huge risk with drinking tap water, it’s got chlorine, metals, minerals, and likely some highly resistant bacteria/viruses. Plus the risk of being poisoned because of a chemical leak somewhere. And if you’re going to the store to buy a pack of waters, then why not grab a pack of *more exciting* waters, with bubbles and flavors in them?
@@andreirachko I'm not sure the statistics bear out that conclusion. Most municipal water is pretty safe, if not necessarily tasty. Generally, if it's safe to take a bath in, it's safe to drink. The risk isn't zero, but "huge risk" is definitely stretching it unless you're in Flint.
@@andreirachko You could get a kettle to boil water. We usually have a kettle of water boiled at all times and once it gets lukewarm, we just put in a few large glass pitchers that way we always have boiled water. The trick is to always boil a kettle of water right before you go to bed so that you have water in the morning and then you can boil another for your coffee. I live in NYC where the tap water quality is good but I grew up in an Asian household and we refuse to drink water straight out of the tap.
@@andreirachko so, no one has a fridge with a filter in it? I drink water almost exclusively. On occasion I have some iced tea, or coffee. It has never occurred to me that water wasn’t satisfying enough.
My son is 5 and drinks water as his main beverage. He will have apple juice, or his new favorite Root Beer, only On occasion or if we are on vacation. But even then, he treats it like a snack. With meals, when he is thirsty, he specifically asks for water. Nothing satisfies thirst like a glass of water!
one of the best channels on TH-cam. always a pleasure to watch your videos.
I agree
As someone who was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2019, I needed an alternative to Coke. I chose to drink sparkling water though I have not taken to the brand mentioned due to its higher cost compared to store branded flavored seltzer water. As I weaned myself off of sugar, I found the taste of seltzer water to be refreshing and not as startling as it was at first. Now almost four years later, I drink seltzer water exclusively changing up on the flavor and when a flavor I like goes on sale that is not a house brand, I treat myself to that. Over the course of nearly 4 years I've dropped and kept off 30 pounds and can assure you that Coke and other such beverages is essentially a death sentence on a long delayed fuse. These are damaging drinks and that doesn't even consider the harm of high fructose corn syrup on your liver (fatty liver).
this is a great channel! Such in-depth fundamental analysis on many big companies. You should have way more subscribers
I gave up soda long ago. My replacement is the occasional water downed ice tea at restaurants. My real go to for that hit of fizz is kombucha. That stuff has few calories and way more interesting flavours.
Kombucha is basically beer. I would watch how much of that you drink too.
@@govege5130 barley fermented enough to make ethanol content anywhere near that off beer. Alcohol in kombucha is less than half a percent
All calories are not equal. Calories from a can of coke are pretty much all from sugar. So the comparison to a cappuccino is not equivalent.
True, but have you considered the fact that your mother is a man?
@@artarealmblazer8452 I'll admit that thought has never crossed my mind.
Oh there is too much you can unpack like why do they put caffeine in the product?
I pretty much kicked soft drinks to the curb at least a decade ago, and started drinking only club soda, seltzer water, or distilled water. I found it was the bubbles that I liked, not all the flavorings and chemicals. Plus, they give me my daily water quota without having to resort so soda AND water. I'll have a Diet Coke every now and then, or add a squeeze of lemon or lime to my seltzer, but soda is no longer the first thing that I reach for to quench my thirst. As well, I've noticed that the quality of Coke/Pepsi has taken a major nosedive recently. Used to have a LOT of flavor/syrup, and be dark brown in color, but no more. It;s the color of tea. Yuck.
As somebody who grew up in MN I never knew that La Croix got super popular. I knew just as many people who drank it in 2010 as I did now and in 2016
I also grew up in MN as well and I agree. When I moved to Texas in 2014 I was able to witness the rise in popularity. All my friends hated La Croix when I offered it back in 2014-2015, but now it's always in their fridge. 😅
I'm from MN and work at a grocery store, and I can count the number of times I've seen someone actually buying or drinking LaCroix on my fingers. Most people I've ever heard mention it despise it.
This must be a very US thing because I live in Southwestern Ontario, Canada and have never heard of Le Croix. Seltzer or sparkling water has become marginally more popular in the last 5 -ish years but I wouldn't say it's going to edge out sodas anytime soon.
People are drinking noticeably less soda and artificially sweetened drinks. I've also noticed smaller portions being a trend.
I've seen La Croix ("la-craw") around in southeastern Ont but it lags behind other sparkling water brands, and not many people here drink sparkling water who aren't trying to quit pop
I live in British Columbia, and la croix is in every grocery store. Although, I recently traveled to the states, and they had a lot more flavours to choose from.
@@user28sdfg8 ironically, canada dry has a lot more flavours in the USA than here, as opposed to our seasonal cranberry flavour
Recently found this channel and binged all your videos. This is really excellent content and I appreciate all the work that goes into the history & analysis of companies & industries. Just a thought for the future: I think it would also be valuable if there was content where you gave insight into your process in making these videos and/or walked us through how you go about doing the analysis. After all, your channel is called Modern MBA. That’s something I would even pay for!
Poland here. We don't seem to have La Croix sold here, but every major polish water/drinks company (Maspex owning Tymbark, Danone owning Żywiec Zdrój etc.) are lauching products like that. So yeah, seltzers do seems to be getting on popularity worldwide.
As someone who like soda, less consumption of soda is definitely a nice trend. It's not a huge problem for me(not not a problem, I am slightly overweight, but not a huge one) as it's pretty much my only form of sugar intake--I don't really eat snacks nor deserts. The next highest source of sugar is probably from the bread/dough of subs and pizzas I eat. Soda company is sort of right in saying that it is an overall life style issue, you will probably be fine if you only have one "vice", but most people have many. It is totally bullshit to say soda is not a significant contributor though, all of the vices contribute, soda more than most.
I find it... problematic for you to only post % growth charts and not volume growth charts. For all I know, the sub 1% growth that Coke have could be more volume than the 25% of La Croix etc due to the huge base volume they ship. As it were, coke and pepsi have long reached a certain degree of market saturation such lack of growth isn't even a problem, their only fear is significant drop in consumption or market share.
bro change your diet and hit the gym
Why? Not to speak for the man but it sounds like he’s happy. If he isn’t then he should but it seems like that’s not the case.
@@Spaghetti742 he’s casually and proudly overweight and does little to no exercise lmao
@@3n3j0t4 Ok, overweight isn't always an indication of bad health, if he were obese however that would be different. And hell, even if he were obese there's not much you could say to change him. The road to help starts with oneself, not outside forces.
@@3n3j0t4 Damn, that's crazy. And?
MF Doom briefly appears at 8:40
Used to make fun of La Croix until I realized how awful soda is for you (still love soda, just stopped drinking it) and what a good substitute it is. I've recently switched to the Kirkland sparkling water though.
Yeah for me Coke is a special treat for when you go to the movies. At home, I'm content with just water.
Sparkling water and mineral water is amazing. Its actually hydrates you and feels good to drink. I drink soda now a days and it makes me feel like crap.
@@Tofuey yep. Spring water is the solution. Anyone who says ‘water is just water’ is just spouting misinformation. Spring water contains natural electrolytes and minerals that actively rehydrate you, which isn’t true of filtered tap water. (Don’t get me started on unfiltered tap water)
Why did you switch to Kirkland? Do you feel it tastes better or is more healthy? Or is it just a matter of price or convenience?
I’ve actually started drinking a lot more zero sugar mineral waters and I’m drinking coke and pepsi less than ever… they’re just so good and don’t overwhelm the pallet
I love how in all these charts sales just tank in 2020 and we all know why sales so badly went down, it really tells us how badly impacted everyone around the globe was by the pandemic.
If you look at Sweden, whose government did nothing, you will see the impact was not the pandemic but the governments shutting everything down.
As someone living in Paris, I’ve never drank La Croix once in my life…
In many parts of the world, it's cheaper to buy soda than clean drinking water. It's predatory.
It’s great that people drink slightly flavoured sparkling water instead of soda/pop but even as a guy who was never habitually drinking pop I’ve tried these drinks like La Croix, Bubbly, etc and they’re just so underwhelming. In no way do they replace the odd craving for a coke or sprite.
It’s usually an acquired taste. And honestly I prefer sparkling water to Sprite although I will have a Coke, Dr Pepper or root beer once in a while.
Try a spindrift, it does it for me. It has 4 calories so don't freak out if it's not a 0 calorie drink haha.
I don't even drink soda from big soda brands when I do drink soda (not counting corporate buyouts of said companies.. because I don't know everything about every small brand I've had). There's soo much small soda companies that are fun to try when I want to have soda (which is rare but... hand me some cream, root beer..etc.. instead of coke or pepsi..
That said- I'm obviously watching this because I like your videos :)
I didn't realize the UK didn't see LaCroix in stores. I feel like it's one of the more well known sparkling water brands in the US. It's not necessarily marketing that makes it well known as much as its price in the US. Especially when we compare it to other brands of sparkling water.
To be fair, what Big Soda says is technically true. Soft drinks don't contribute to obesity uniquely, and it's a matter of how much calories you consume vs how much you burn. A person leading an active lifestyle can drink cola daily and not get fat.
The problem is that soft drinks are basically sugar that is easier to consume than in any other form. So they make it very easy to ingest more calories than you spend.
Sparkling water has always been popular in Europe. But we prefer it straight and rely on a good spring or mineral water. The flavored sparkling water was a fad that never really took on. Maybe it's more available in the UK.
Soda, sweet tea, juice, etc. have always been too saccharine for my tastes, but all these various "fizzy waters" somehow manage to taste blander than regular old H2O.
Maybe I'm just picky, but I've always been content merely drinking water when I'm thirsty.
Fizzy water has an inherrant bitter flavor, caused by the carbon itself. Even soda has this, but it's masked by all the sugar. That's why fizzy water has a strange flavor compared to regular H2O. It's an acquired taste though. People who like fizzy water grew to enjoy the taste.
I don't drink sparkling water when I'm thirsty, I drink regular 'flat' water for that. It's nice to have with meals, though.
I have strongly disliked any sparkling water I've ever tried. But I also am just generally not fond of carbonated beverages in general but interesting to see how much it blew up.
Same sparkling water isnt good .
Which is fine since that means you probably don’t like soda anyways
@@WeiYinChan Most soda tastes good, but I just don't like hurting my throat with carbonated beverages.
In Sweden We’ve had a very large selection of flavored sparkling water for as long as I can remember.
It will probably be hard for Lacroix to expands to Europe since we already have many established brands.
To be fair to Coke's former European president, what would you expect him to say in that situation. Obviously Coca Cola plans to stay in business and changing the formula to reduce the amount of sugar will make their customers angry (new coke was a massive failure). Coke has in fact made many alternatives with lower sugar (Coke life, Coke Zero, Coke no Sugar) and consumers are well aware that Soda isn't healthy.
Its why you need regulations. If the governments regulated less sugar; all companies and corps have to follow suit. Ensuring no one has an advantage or can take market share. Now these regulations are never perfect. Another issue is that executives usually work at a corporation for a few years then go to another one and focus on short term profits. Most of them never focus on long term sustainability and growth as that is the culture of corporate and the mega wealthy. They would never think to suggest such ideas even if it benefited the company years to come.
@@MasterGhostf Regulations ? That Country, where u can set ur tap water on fire!
Regualtions definetly working.
@@MasterGhostf it is regulated!.. this is why the ingredients and amounts of all these negative chemicals and compounds are clearly listed.. I don't see what the issue is here!.. you want the government to control even people's sugar intake!? Full grown adults? Are we not clearly aware? Is it not clearly listed what's in there? Is it not enough for you to control yourself?
@@dylanb4065 actually they have ways of making it harder to clearly know all the ingredients and now the big processed food corps are lobbying to make it even harder to know what's actually in your food. You are totally naive if you think they won't use every dirty trick in the book.
He gave good responses, audiences are just idiots.
Crazy to think that I could drink a whole soda in an hour in a half to 2 hours watching a movie in a theater, just few years a go. Thinking about that makes me 🤢
Another great video. So excited to see this channel grow. Keen to see future topics!
Constructive feedback if you would like it: Felt this one at the start and the airbnb one ran a bit too long regarding the interviews, instead of you summarising points and showing highlights like your McDonalds video
Thank you Dean. I genuinely appreciate your note and support - would love constructive feedback. Do you think the interview clips themselves ran way too long and/or could have been removed out entirely in both eps?
@@ModernMBA Great question, I think seeing the real interviews shows reality, so I wouldn't remove them, but maybe editing them down into a collage, or just the main soundbites how you do the news cast sections? Just my opinion, obviously you're doing things right to get so much support in the comments. Literally my favourite new channel.
Modern MBA on the other hand I actually really appreciate the longer interview segment - it does a lot for the case
@@thealienrobotanthropologist Don't disagree, but I think as he grows people are going to be attached to him, and they may get disengaged by multiple minutes away from his voice and narration, specifically when the people being interviewed aren't likable or engaging like in this video.
Video analytics will be able to tell him if people drop off through, so I'd be against any major changes until there's enough data.
I was listening to this video while doing chores and legitimately thought TH-cam had changed the video to a video of that interview.
Diet sodas are also correlated to obesity and death. Drink unflavored water with food. Food must be used a healthy drug, otherwise pleasure foods may act as an unhealthy drug.
I work for pepsi, and I love how how pepsi tells us that their naked drink is healthy. The green machine has 53 grams of sugar in that tiny bottle. A gram is a cube of sugar, and there is 53 cubes in the green machine lol
Pepsi operatives are probably on their way to your house now. RUN!
@@AlcorSolaire good lol. Let them come. "We heard that you told people how much sugar are in our drinks, stop!!!" Me, gives them the finger and walks away
@@mr.joshua204 they might find another way to silence you 🔫
@@blastbottles let them lol
Here in Canada, Bubly (by PepsiCo) is advertised by Canadian singer Michael Bublé. His last name sounds like the drink name and he plays on it, calling it "Bublé" while people around him try to correct him
His name immediately came to mind when I saw the spelling of "Bubly." In my mind, I pronounced it boo-bly.
Danny Gonzalez is proud
Lmao, at 10:20 right after asking what company could replace big soda I got an ad for whiskey
Rip It is an energy drink brand and surprisingly has a cult following among US veterans of the wars/operations in the middle east since it was available for free at the chow halls
I feel like it's remiss to not note how expensive fruit juice has gotten - the price, not the sugar content, is why nobody I know buys juice any longer.
Maybe that's just from being a Canadian though, which probably also explains why I've never seen a La Croix ad, ever. I thought they gained popularity as the packaging being joked about as being "wow, so vaporwave/ a e s t h e t i c" - kind of like what happened with Fiji water.
Those lawyers are the biggest traders to humanity. They don't know what they've done.
what are they trading
@@42crazyguy the truth for money
First time I heard an someone from the US talk about this brand I didn't know what he was talking about. But when he wrote it down I went "ooh!". They pronounce it Lacro-y, while I always pronounced it French (the cross) La-cro-a.
I love sparkling water. Unfortunately companies are seeing that people do and are starting to really raise their prices.
Omg!!! I love lacroix and my friends and family know I always have one in hand. Hahaha even right now in my apartment I probably have 50 cans and about 10-12 in the fridge right now. It has majorly helped me leave soda in the past.
Sparkling Water honestly has that feel good, and calm taste.
Maybe this goes beyond the scope of this video, but I would've liked to hear about what the carbonated water space looked like before LaCroix's explosion. Personally, I remember as a kid my dad would buy these tall bottles of San Pellegrino to drink at dinner so that we felt fancier than we actually were lol
In the US it was definetely dominated by Nestlé and Nestlé
Interviewer: That's a lot of sugar isn't it?
Former Coke president: WE JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE
Legislation and taxation against soda consumption is kept at a local level? Good. Keep it that way. I don't want america to turn into a nanny state like my country has
The interview with the coke exec seemed fine? Coca cola is in the business of selling beverages. They objectively state how many grams of sugar are in a drink to inform a consumer, the consumer needs to do their own research and decide if they want to continue making unhealthy choices or not. For those that want to enjoy a heavy sugar drink time to time, they can enjoy it it freely, while those that do not exert self-control have to deal with consequences.
I was painting my food truck and listening to this video when it came out and I got distracted and the paint went into the speakers since my phone was in my chest pocket and I had black paint in the microphone and speakers until I got a new phone.
As somebody who mostly drinks water from the tap, hearing people talk about drinking multiple cans of La Croix in a single day blows my fucking mind
La croix has hits of citrus, which tap doesn't. Also not everyone can drink clean water of tap. Here in LA most tap water is not safe to drink.
I manage to get through a box a day
I personally am an AHA (coke) and bubbly (Pepsi) sparkling water fan. I was a soda addict for my whole life. Enough to take my enamel off my teeth. I switched to sparkling water and my health improved so much. However. It appears I’m still giving the same people money but I really like their zesty beverages. So. I’ll keep buying them until I’m dead
These testemonies from the paid experts infuriated me to an incredible degree
I would have more respect for these companies if they just blatantly admitted that "Yes our product can contribute to obesity and diabetes; that's why you should only consume it in moderation."
I wonder why no big soda brand has invested in natural sweeteners like stevia, allulose, erythritol, or monkfruit. I’d be their biggest customer lol.
Check out Coke Life, they had it in the UK for a couple years but it wasn’t popular enough
Cause it tastes like shit, and unfortunately you alone cannot fund an entire line of Coca Cola drinks
Hola bandidas, check them put
@@thebestfinn yeah I liked coke life shame they got rid of it
Zevia soda uses the sweetener stevia... company based out of California.. I love their flavors!
In East Asia, many of the local beverages have 1/2 to a 1/4 of the sugar seen in the US, which Coke tried with Coke life.
I did also start drinking flavored Sparkly water (lemon) and it helped me replace Soda and beer with a healthy alternative. I actually even dropped the flavored sparkly water to regular sparkly water, as we usually drink soda to water down our food, but sparkly water does it just as well. I lost a TON of weight...
I usually have a dozen sparkly water in my fridge, but yesterday I ran out of it and it felt awful...I might be addicted to it.. But well, it is not a bad addiction, is it? It is carbonated water...
Soda has been a hard habit to break, but so worth it. Though pricing helps to reduce buying it. For me its about $7-8 per 12 pack, which for me turns it from an occasional splurge to a luxury item. Be it inflation, taxes, or overpricing, there comes a point where I'd rather just drink water or juice.
I tried an orange "flavored" LaCroix recently for the first time and it smelled of orange and tasted of baking soda. Safe to say I won't be trying it again
There is so many different flavors you can pick from. I am sure they have one that you will love. I have tried all of them and really love only 3 flavors.
As a club soda (seltzer) drinker for all of my life, nothing can beat the fizziness of Canada Dry or Seltzer
I remember getting my xbox 360, and over the summer me and my brother drank La Croix and played games.
Funny, I am sipping a La Croix as I watch. Great analysis- its very interesting!
I'd just like to bring up the fact that they paid these people to say Soda is safe and effective like something else that happened recently.
This is tricky. I see what the big soda reps are implying. You could have soda or ice cream or whatever you deem unhealthy literally everyday and as long as you don’t go over your maintenance calories you wouldn’t become obese. In reality tho obese people are typically over consuming these high calorie junk foods specifically. It’s not like they’re becoming fat by eating rice chicken and broccoli.
As someone who has worked in the restaurant industry their entire life, I think its really really funny that people make videos like this proclaiming the death of soda. Soda is going nowhere I hate to break it to you guys. People arent ordering less soda from me they're ordering the same amount as always. Soda water is a fad and it will be gone in 2 years and soda will be right back in the fridges. Especially when they figure out how to make it less acidic but just as sweet.
2:30 The interviewer really wanted to pin the guy down.
The English pronunciation of the word LaCroix makes me laugh every time :D
Totally! On the other hand, we got accustomed to their butchering of Detroit, Illinois and New Orleans. Makes me wonder why they don't pronounce Des Moines "Dess Moyneez"
Here in Czech republic we have huge selection of flavored fizzy waters since 90ties... you get literally any flavor here from elderberry, chestnut, rosemary, white grapes, pear, mojito flavored, herbal flavors, literally any fruit ... I don't understand what is the big deal... this has been going on in Europe for decades....
Saying that Coca-Cola sales have plummeted in the 2010's ignores 1 HUGE fact - in 2010, they bought their largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises (who was on the verge of bankruptcy due to debt), which added billions of dollars of "sales" to Coca-Cola's top line in 2010 and 2011. Then, over the next decade, Coca-Cola sold off pieces of that bottler to more financially secure partners. If you ignore the acquisition/divestiture, sales have been inching up at a low-single digit rate. This is a far cry from the high-single-digit growth seen in the 1980's and 1990's, but it is respectable for a multination consumer products company.
Bro sparkling water tastes like TV static to me
I love coke. I am aware of its high sugar content and any person with minimum wits would know that it's not exactly a health drink. Just drink in moderation. Even water is toxic if you down a jug in one sitting. Too much of anything is bad.
Henry Cavill was once asked "Coke or Pepsi?" my man said "Water" 👏 s/o to Superman
La Croix is a great product, it's cheap, has a lot of personal choice (as to what flavors you get) and lets you fill that soda craving without any gross sugar or chemicals.
Cheap?!? That’s a joke. It’s very expensive but I love it nonetheless.
I've seen Lacroix but never thought anything of it. It's crazy people still drink any of these! In the early 90s, I heard soda was bad for you, so I stopped and never looked back. Lacroix isn't gonna change that. It's regular "reverse osmosis" water for me.
Sparkling water is just the most refreshing thing you can drink. It doesn’t give you a sugar rush and crash but the bubbles still feel good.
How about just water? The carbon, while not necessarily bad, can be harmful in *large* amounts.
I think moderation is key.
🔑
Don't want to defend coca cola representative in an interview, but what was so bad about it? As far as i'm aware pretty much every country has a law that forces manufacturers print the composition and calories of the product. Everybody knows sugary drinks and junk food will negatively affect your health and looks. No one is hiding it, including coca cola. It's your responsibility to look after yourself and decide what to consume. And thats exactly what he said. Am i missing something?
i will never understand how anyone can like la croix
it tastes like the feeling you get from hitting your funny bone mixed withthe sensation of your leg falling asleep
Coke is the culprit of gaining weight. I’m proudly to say 7 years of coke (soda) free ever since. I lost 95lbs since.
All soft drinks. Snapple Iced Tea used to do it. And Snapple uses better ingredients and non carbonated so you wind up chugging it.
For the last five years, I have been drinking La Croix lime...and now sodas taste like syrup...yuck....
I was hooked to Coke and sparkling water may have saved me (the overall diet and losing 100 lbs helped, too). I now use a soda stream just for bubble water.
Im absolutely OBSESSED and haven’t stopped drinking several ICE a day for the last three years. Getting it delivered to my home every few days has been a game changer. After a decade of no bubbly, it was exciting to put that FIZZZZZZZ back into my daily life. Bc let’s face it, sparkling bubbles ARE FUN and to partake without sugar is a match made in heaven. This this sugar free water trend isnt going anywhere anytime soon!
I really don't get what's so hard for people about just drinking water.
fish fuck in it though
It seems like it's slowly begun in Europe, In Amsterdam I've been drinking a local brand called "Charlie's".
I didn't even realise there was such a huge amount of consumption in the US, but I've found myself picking one up every evening so it really wouldn't surprise me if the trends follows here too.
Rip it is also a huge part of their revenue. It’s the energy drink found at every military installation. I drank tons of them while deployed to Afghanistan.
Ever fresh is at every gas station I’ve ever stepped foot I to.
These were likely the top sellers before the lacroix boom. 13:40
Yeah I chuckled when he said “less than 1%”
I can't get over how they pronounce La Croix as "La Croy" 😂
Me neither haha
"La Croy" is the official and intended pronunciation of it according to La Croix's official Twitter and website.
@@Angel-ez4li Learn some French
@@PointNemo9 I don't need to learn anything you condescending fuck. If the company that owns La Croix says it's pronounced that way - then it's pronounced that way.
I've never heard it pronounced differently
My sister Loves la croix. Almost every flavor we have. Pretty good in my opinion.
Why is the number 3 beverage brand not included in this episode? 🤔🤔🤔
I remember getting teased in high school for drinking LaCroix. Someone tried it and said it was gross. Nowadays I'm fairly certain all of them drink it on a regular basis. Jokes on them.
(I brought it to school because my stomach would be in knots in the morning and seltzer was the only thing that made it go away)
Yeah, people are mostly sheep. Tell them something is cool and they'll do it with a huge smile and act dumbfounded if you ask why they didn't like that thing before it was cool. lol
If you were in the military then you know the power of Rip-it. We would buy it by the pallets