A View from the Top: Daniel Birnbaum, the man trying to bring SodaStream back to the UK

A panache for environmentalism from the SodaStream boss could swim well with millenials

Daniel Birnbaum's panache for environmentalism has ruffled a few feathers (Reuters)

Remember the SodaStream? If you’re older than 30 and grew up in the UK you most certainly do.

If not, then think of it is as a cult-status-achieving kitchen appliance that took Britain by storm in the 1970s and 1980s, enabling anyone to infuse plain old water with fancy bubbles, under the slogan “get busy with the fizzy”. Catchy.

More than three decades on, and despite the concept perhaps seeming fabulously retro to some, it’s still hugely popular in parts of Europe. Now the chief executive of the Israel-based company is betting on a mass revival here in the UK, and his rationale may look tricky to fault.

Over the last few years, we’ve become more health conscious, more cash-strapped and more environmentally aware than perhaps ever before. We love low-calorie, high-taste alternatives to run-of-the-mill soft drinks and we like concocting our own creations.

Aside from avocados and nut milks, under-paid millenials have discovered a penchant for entertaining friends at their flats over home-made beverages, with or without a few measures of liquor chucked in. So at about £30 for the bottom of the range model, it’s not hard to see how a SodaStream might fit the bill, especially when cult gadgets like the NutriBullet boast a far higher price tag.

But if you thought this was a simple, friendly tale of reacquainting the masses with an old favourite, think again. Daniel Birnbaum is hoping to tap into all of these trends in a disruptive way. He’s waging war on anyone who might consider hindering his bubbly comeback: Pepsi? Sure. Coca-Cola? Yep. Nestle? You bet. The game is firmly on, and Birnbaum, it seems, means business.

When I meet the fast-talking, Harvard Business School-educated executive over lunch in Kensington, I immediately realise that he’s someone who appears to thrive on confrontation.

On trips to London he loves nothing more than to visit the public galleries of the Old Bailey, he explains. He tells me about a terrorism trial he recently attended and murderers who he’s watched squirm in the dock. “It’s fascinating, you should really go.”

Professionally, he’s no stranger to clashes either, though thankfully of a different kind. In March this year, a Game of Thrones-inspired SodaStream advert was banned by the Advertising Standard Authority after the National Hydration Council and members of the public complained that it was offensive.

The commercial told the tale of a man who was being verbally abused for buying bottled water rather than using a SodaStream, which – so the ad implies – would have helped him to save the planet. The insulted man is stalked through the streets and lectured on the environmental impact of unnecessarily using plastic bottles by The Mountain, a deeply intimidating and larger-than-life character who fans of the cult show will be deeply familiar with.

The advert ends with Hafthor Julius Bjornsson, the Icelandinc strongman who plays the part, proclaiming: “Stop. With SodaStream you can make sparkling water at home at the touch of a button […] Without carrying heavy plastic bottles and pissing off Mother Earth. Can you hear the dolphins cry? SodaStream. F**k plastic bottles.””.

It certainly packed a punch and it’s also not the only time Birnbaum has ruffled industry feathers in recently month. He tells me that he’s been receiving cease-and-desist letters from one of the world’s biggest and most well-known consumer goods companies, instructing him to stop publicly portraying them as perpetrators of environmental damage.

He seems more amused by the threats than concerned – they seem to fuel his energy for more action – but when it comes to his mission as the CEO of a global brand which employs almost 2,000, his demeanour changes and he’s suddenly all business, feet firmly on the floor and no jesting.

“Unlike in Scandinavia and in some other parts of Europe, UK consumers talk about the environment but aren’t putting their words into actions,” he says sternly, in a slightly lowered voice.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme, a charity that works with UK Government to cut greenhouse gas emissions and achieve greater resource efficiency, estimates that in excess of 500,000 tonnes of plastic bottles enter UK household waste every year and Birnbaum says that even the bottles that are collected for recycling are only partially recycled.

“We need to educate consumers about the fact that we have monstrous, evil companies who are doing evil,” he says. “Who’s speaking up for the dolphins?” he asks. “Nobody.”

Although the former head of sports giant Nike for Israel doesn’t consider himself a “tree-hugger” he tells me that he leads a balanced life and likes to live by a quote he attributes to Mark Twain: “You're never wrong to do the right thing”.

He’s clearly got a philanthropic desire and is deeply interested in “doing good”. Later, he proudly tells me that SodaStreams are produced in Israel by Jews and Arabs working side by side in “perfect harmony”. He’s providing jobs for people who may otherwise not be able to find work, he says.

In 2015, the company was widely boycotted by campaign groups and members of the public its headquarters were based in the West Bank, but Birnbaum seems to have moved on. Over a very chocolatey dessert - "I have a huge sweet tooth" -he tells me that the main factory is “an island of peace”. In fact, he says, the whole economy of the region could be improved if more corporations operated like SodaStream does. “We really do offer something very special.”

I change the subject back to his green credentials and ask if he drives a Tesla – or perhaps a Toyota Prius. “No, I don’t” he says. But he did once consider buying a venture-backed company called Better Place that developed battery-charging and battery-switching services for electric cars.

He wasn’t convinced though, and Better Place filed for bankruptcy in 2013. Clearly his quest for creating a sustainable world has not cramped his business acumen.

As we wrap up our lunch, I become increasingly aware of just how much of a provoker Birnbaum can be. He seems to be a man who likes to disrupt and question the status quo, and he likes to prove that he’s not afraid to offend in the name of doing and saying what he thinks is right.

So just before I get up to the leave, I dare myself to do my own bit of provoking.

“So what do you really think of Coca-Cola?” I ask in a slightly conspiring tone. There follows a short pause during which I can see his PR emphatically shaking her head out of the corner of my eye.

“Oh I love it,” he says wide-eyed, to both her and my surprise. “The taste – that is – I love the taste. But I don’t drink it. At least I try not to. It’s not good for me.”

He may be a confrontational man, but I don’t blame him for being careful. I wouldn’t want to mess with The Mountain either. Not to mention those dolphins.