Tides Shift Against Nestle as Company Reports Decline in Bottled Water Sales

"This week, mounting consumer backlash against Nestle became
especially apparent when the mega-conglomerate reported that their
sales had dipped by 2.4 percent to 5.07 billion Swiss francs ($4.69
billion) from 5.21 billion francs a year earlier. The company's bottled
water division, which packages and sells water under several brands
including Arrowhead, Calistoga, Deer Park, Poland Spring, and Perrier,
among others, recorded a 3.7 percent decline in volume.

"Around
the world, but especially in the United States, consumers are
recognizing that bottled water is an unnecessary burden on their
wallets, the environment, and the communities from which it is taken
and sold at thousands of times its actual value. Nestle in particular,
has gained notoriety over the past several years for profiting on a
natural resource while dumping the costs of its corporate imperialism
onto society in the form of pollution, over-consumption of oil, and
unfair labor practices, to name just a few offenses.

"Communities
too, are pushing back against Nestle. Just last month, citizens in
Michigan prevailed when a court there turned down the corporation's
request to pump more water from an already depleting spring in Mecosta
County. Similar struggles have played out in California, Maine, New
Hampshire, Wisconsin and Colorado as part of a growing trend to reclaim
public water resources from private control.

"While news of Nestle's loss is certainly the gain of consumers and
communities, the fight is far from other. Food & Water Watch will
continue to support the work of those working to keep Nestle out of
their communities, while applauding those consumers who, in rejecting
bottled water, are helping to make it obsolete."