Toast - Dasani Water

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? The BBC Business journalist, Sean Farrington, investigates how it ended up toast, in the company of resident business expert and entrepreneur, Sam White. 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. But shortly after Dasani water was launched in the UK, things quickly went awry, derailing plans for expansion into Europe. 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. They also hear from Toast listener, Chris Leversha, who remembers buying Dasani water and suggested we cover it on the show. 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. If you have a good idea for an interesting Toast topic then tell us about it - email toast@bbc.co.uk Produced by Jon Douglas, Toast is a BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

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Toast - Dasani Water is an episode from Sliced Bread by BBC.

This episode is 24:39 long.

This episode was published on Dec 4, 2025.

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