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| SodaStream to Close Factory in West Bank | SodaStream to Close Factory in West Bank |
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| JERUSALEM — SodaStream, the Israeli manufacturer of home carbonation systems that this year became a focal point of an international movement to boycott Israeli products made in the occupied West Bank, plans to close its factory there next year. | |
| The company’s stock and revenue have waned since the controversy erupted in January, when the actress Scarlett Johansson became its spokeswoman and resigned from a similar post at Oxfam International, which opposes Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. | The company’s stock and revenue have waned since the controversy erupted in January, when the actress Scarlett Johansson became its spokeswoman and resigned from a similar post at Oxfam International, which opposes Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. |
| The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as B.D.S., which had agitated against the company as well as Ms. Johansson’s involvement, hailed the planned closing of the West Bank factory as a victory. | The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as B.D.S., which had agitated against the company as well as Ms. Johansson’s involvement, hailed the planned closing of the West Bank factory as a victory. |
| “Pressure has forced retailers across Europe and North America to drop SodaStream, and the company’s share price has tumbled in recent months as our movement has caused increasing reputational damage to the SodaStream brand,” Rafeef Ziadah, a spokeswoman for the movement, said in a statement this week. | “Pressure has forced retailers across Europe and North America to drop SodaStream, and the company’s share price has tumbled in recent months as our movement has caused increasing reputational damage to the SodaStream brand,” Rafeef Ziadah, a spokeswoman for the movement, said in a statement this week. |
| The plan, she added, shows that the movement “is increasingly capable of holding corporate criminals to account for their participation in Israeli apartheid and colonialism.” | |
| A spokeswoman for SodaStream, which makes machines that add bubbles to water and myriad flavor packets for them, said Thursday that the decision was “purely commercial.” | A spokeswoman for SodaStream, which makes machines that add bubbles to water and myriad flavor packets for them, said Thursday that the decision was “purely commercial.” |
| An investor relations report on the company’s website said it planned to shut its plant in Mishor Adumim, one of 15 industrial zones in West Bank territory Israel seized in 1967, along with a second factory, and consolidate operations in a facility that opened this May in Lehavim, a small town in the northern Negev Desert of Israel. | An investor relations report on the company’s website said it planned to shut its plant in Mishor Adumim, one of 15 industrial zones in West Bank territory Israel seized in 1967, along with a second factory, and consolidate operations in a facility that opened this May in Lehavim, a small town in the northern Negev Desert of Israel. |
| The SodaStream spokeswoman, Nirit Hurwitz, said that the company had received a $20 million grant from the Israeli government to build the Lehavim plant, and that it expected the consolidation to “result in savings of 2 percent across our entire cost base.” | |
| “Our costs have increased and our profitability has eroded” as annual revenue has quintupled to $500 million since 2007, Ms. Hurwitz said in an email. “Time has now come to make the change to a single state-of-the-art facility that will be our flagship site globally.” | |
| The company reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday of $125.9 million, a 12.9 percent drop from the third quarter of 2013. Revenue from the Americas plunged 41 percent, to $29.5 million. On Tuesday, its stock was trading at $22.39, a 70 percent slide from a peak of $72, Reuters reported. | |
| “Today, we are introducing a comprehensive growth plan that will serve as our blueprint for returning SodaStream to profitable growth,” the company’s chief executive, Daniel Birnbaum, said in a statement accompanying the earnings report. “We are fully committed to getting the company back on track and leverage the unique opportunity we have to fulfill our role in the transformation underway in the beverage industry.” | “Today, we are introducing a comprehensive growth plan that will serve as our blueprint for returning SodaStream to profitable growth,” the company’s chief executive, Daniel Birnbaum, said in a statement accompanying the earnings report. “We are fully committed to getting the company back on track and leverage the unique opportunity we have to fulfill our role in the transformation underway in the beverage industry.” |
| During the height of the controversy, Mr. Birnbaum, who took over the company in 2007, said he would not have chosen to put the factory in the West Bank but would not close it under pressure. He argued that the plant’s 500 Palestinian employees earned more money in better conditions at SodaStream than they could elsewhere in the West Bank, and that the integration of Palestinian and Israeli workers was like a pilot project for peace. | During the height of the controversy, Mr. Birnbaum, who took over the company in 2007, said he would not have chosen to put the factory in the West Bank but would not close it under pressure. He argued that the plant’s 500 Palestinian employees earned more money in better conditions at SodaStream than they could elsewhere in the West Bank, and that the integration of Palestinian and Israeli workers was like a pilot project for peace. |
| “I could leave there tomorrow, for me it would be easier, but what about the employees?” he asked in an interview then. “I feel like I have a responsibility there. Those who oppose the factory are using SodaStream and manipulating our Palestinian workers in order to demonize the state of Israel, and I won’t let them.” | “I could leave there tomorrow, for me it would be easier, but what about the employees?” he asked in an interview then. “I feel like I have a responsibility there. Those who oppose the factory are using SodaStream and manipulating our Palestinian workers in order to demonize the state of Israel, and I won’t let them.” |
| On Wednesday, Mr. Birnbaum said the company was asking the Israeli government for permits so that the Palestinians could work at the site in Lehavim. “We are committed to doing everything in our power to enable continuity of employment to our family of employees,” he said. | On Wednesday, Mr. Birnbaum said the company was asking the Israeli government for permits so that the Palestinians could work at the site in Lehavim. “We are committed to doing everything in our power to enable continuity of employment to our family of employees,” he said. |