Big check of Christmas soda: A lot to lose by choosing “wrong”

(The online newspaper): There are not a few liters of Christmas soda that are sold in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Nettavisen’s large price check shows that there can be a lot to save, even when it comes to the same type of soft drink.

Nettavisen has checked 77 Christmas soda prices from a wide range of manufacturers.

The cheapest one we found had a price per liter of only 9.93 per litre, while the most expensive is more than ten times as expensive. The latter is made in a very special way.

See all prices below

The bestseller

Many people have a great commitment when it comes to Christmas soda. The opinion of what is the best soft drink can be quite strong. But the one that sells the most is Hamar and Lillehammer Christmas soda. About a third of all the Christmas soda that is drunk is from this brand.

The price of the bestseller varies a lot depending on whether it comes in a plastic bottle, glass bottle or box.

The cheapest are 1.5 liter plastic bottles, which are the lowest price per litre

• NOK 21.27 for the one without sugar
• DKK 21.93 for the one with sugar

Here, the low-price chains Extra, Kiwi and Rema 1000 have identical prices. This was also the case for the other Christmas soda we found at the three chains.

Nettavisen has also checked prices at the Coop Mega and Meny supermarkets. Coop Mega is 6 percent more expensive than the discount chain, while Menu is 18 percent more expensive on these bottles.

Rolls royce-brusen

The manufacturer Ringnes refers to the glass bottles as the Rolls-Royce variant. And that is also reflected in the price. Here, the price per liter is around three times as high as if you were to buy the exact same soft drink in 1.5 liter bottles.

– The glass bottle is the most exclusive, it is the Rolls-Royce packaging for special occasions. For many, it won’t be quite Christmas Eve if they don’t have the Christmas soda in a glass bottle, says the Christmas soda manager at Ringnes, Josefine Hagatun.

She emphasizes that it is the shops that appreciate the shops.

See the answers from the chains further down

This is the liter price for a glass bottle of Hamar and Lillehammer Christmas soda with sugar:

• Extra: NOK 58.79
• Kiwi: NOK 58.79
• Rema 1000: DKK 58.79
• Coop Mega: NOK 60.30
• Menu: NOK 66.36

The glass bottles make up just over 20 per cent of all the Christmas soda sold, according to Ringnes.

– Lovers want the glass bottle

And a glass bottle is a must have, according to Christmas soda enthusiast Sven Erik Lie. At least on Christmas Eve. Lie has started a Facebook page for everyone who likes Hamar and Lillehammer Christmas soda. As of now, the site has more than 1,400 members.

– For a true Christmas shower lover, only a glass bottle applies, says Lie.

He estimates that he will have drunk 40-50 liters of Christmas soda before Christmas is over. He understands that the glass bottles are slightly more expensive to produce, but does not think that explains the entire price difference.

– It shouldn’t have been that much more expensive in a glass bottle. I doubt that it is that much more expensive to make the soft drink in a glass bottle, says Sven Erik Lie.

The very cheapest

Not surprisingly, the chains’ own brands are among the cheapest in the test. The very cheapest price Nettavisen found was for a 1.5 liter plastic bottle of Coop Christmas soda red without sugar with a price per liter of just NOK 9.93.

At the other end of the scale, we found the Christmas soda from Grimstad brusfabrikk with a liter price of NOK 105.76. We found it at Meny.

Meny also has by far the largest selection of Christmas soft drinks, a total of 34 different varieties Nettavisen checked the prices of at Meny.

• Menu: 34
• Coop Mega: 16
• Ex: 9
• Kiwi: 9
• Rema 1000: 9

All the chains inform Nettavisen that they have even more varieties of Christmas soda. The selection may vary somewhat from store to store. In addition, several of the posters in the shops had the wrong price and these are therefore not included in the test.

The most expensive soda

The Christmas soft drink from Grimstad brusfabrikk has by far the highest liter price in Nettavisen’s test.

– By all means, it would be nice not to be the most expensive, says general manager Ida Konradsen in what must be one of the country’s smallest soda factories.

– But it costs money to make soft drinks like this. We want to use good raw materials and that has a price. We make craft soda, a bit like craft brew, she explains.

She says they only use fresh and natural ingredients.

– We use organic blackcurrants from Mølstad farm and bergamot from Simone Sabadi in Sicily. This is the reason why soft drinks are slightly more expensive, she says.

Doubles production

Spices and flavoring are important.

– We extract the flavors of star anise and orange zest, we press the ginger ourselves, says Konradsen.

The soft drink is pasteurized so that it does not ferment. The shelf life is two years.

– We started five years ago. This is a side hustle of the operation we have of our restaurant and other jobs. To begin with, we sourced soft drinks from Denmark, but then it took off, says Konradsen.

Christmas vibes

People are clearly willing to pay for the expensive soda. Last year they sold 10,000 bottles of Christmas soda which disappeared in just three weeks. This year they have doubled production.

– What do you think about being the most expensive?

– Our soft drink is not like other Christmas soft drinks. A bottle will do. With commercial soft drinks, it may be necessary to pour a little more down.

– What makes this a Christmas drink?

– We think it tastes like Christmas when there is star anise, orange and blackcurrant in the soft drink. We get Christmas ribs from it, this is Christmas spice. And then it is nice and Christmas red in colour. It is sour rather than sweet. We call it adult soda, says Konradsen.

– We think the Christmas soda is a bit of fun, it is non-traditional and not like other Christmas sodas. We tend to change the recipe from year to year. One year we used wine grapes from Mainklang in Austria. Another year we used apples from Asker, she says.

The chains answer this:

Extra: – We are very pleased that we have the cheapest Christmas soda, especially when we know that this is an important product for many of our customers, says communications director Harald Kristiansen.

– It’s extra nice when the sugar-free version is the cheapest. It is also pleasing that Coop Mega is the cheapest supermarket chain.

Kiwi: – Traditionally, there has been more willingness to pay for local varieties. Julebrus is clearly one of the most important seasonal products in the run-up to Christmas, says communications advisor at Kiwi Nora Helgesen.

– In recent years, several Christmas soft drinks have become sugar-free, and among some brands there is a variant with and one without sugar. In Kiwi, sugar-free soda is always cheaper than the equivalent version with sugar. This also applies to Christmas soda, she says.

Rema 1000: – Christmas soda is an important product for many at Christmas. That’s why we offer a large selection, in various price ranges, far more than what is included in this test, says category and purchasing director Line Aarnes.

– Grans Julebrus without sugar, which is our cheapest alternative and which also scored the highest in a taste test earlier this week, is not included in this test, says Aarnes.

Menu: – We will have the best and largest selection of all types of Christmas goods, and we are keen to have good, cheaper alternatives, says communications manager at Meny, Nina Horn Hynne.

– There are strong geographical preferences and a lot of feelings and traditions linked to Christmas soda, and we will have the largest selection so that everyone can find their “must-have favourites”. Our largest stores have up to 60 different varieties of Christmas soda, while the average store has up to 20 varieties, she says.