Get Busy with the Fizzy
(I am definitely showing my age!) The SodaStream ‘Carnival’ – a complete litre of water fizzed up in your own home! Would wonders never cease in the 1980s?
Peterborough-based SodaStream had the opportunity to carbonate 1 litre of water (rather than the small glass mixer bottles most people remember) with the advent of the new wondermaterial, PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate), that allowed a full litre to be pressurised to 170psi with CO2, forcing the gas to dissolve in the water and making it fizz when depressurised.
So far so good. Except that PET shrinks back to its original pre-blown state when put in a dishwasher! So the final production bottles had to be made of more expensive Polycarbonate.
Michael’s work, as Principal Designer at Roberts Weaver, involved generating concepts, assembly methods and production drawings, as well as devising how the new interlock mechanism worked.
The client market researched the Carnival to death with models made in Roberts Weaver’s workshop, resulting in the grim 1970’s brown and cream colour scheme. Ask enough people what they like and the result will always be a ‘grey (or in this case, beige) goo’!
When sub-branded to Boots (the High Street Chemist), the bright red and white products were truly ‘pop’ and flew off the shelves.
Happy Days!