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Toast - Dasani Water

Toast - Dasani Water

Sliced Bread
Dec 4, 2025 25 min
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About this episode

<p>Dasani water, a bottled water from Coca-Cola, proved a big hit in the U.S.A so why did it last for less than 6 weeks in the UK?</p><p>The BBC Business journalist, Sean Farrington, investigates how it ended up toast, in the company of resident business expert and entrepreneur, Sam White.</p><p>In the early 2000s, Coca-Cola had entered the growing bottled water market and was hoping to turn its hit new brand in America into a global sensation. </p><p>But shortly after Dasani water was launched in the UK, things quickly went awry, derailing plans for expansion into Europe. </p><p>To help explain what happened, Sean and Sam delve into the BBC archives and hear from expert guests including Graham Hiscott, the journalist whose story shone a new light on to the brand, and Conor Carroll a lecturer and marketing expert who has written about the Dasani debacle. </p><p>They also hear from Toast listener, Chris Leversha, who remembers buying Dasani water and suggested we cover it on the show.</p><p>At the end, Sam has to come up with her own professional conclusions about the fate of Dasani UK based on what she has just heard. </p><p>If you have a good idea for an interesting Toast topic then tell us about it - email toast@bbc.co.uk</p><p>Produced by Jon Douglas, Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.</p>

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