Do you know how Nestlé makes billions from merely boiling water?With a growing world population, the demand for clean water remains on the rise especially in developing countries. For a multinational company like Nestle that makes it a priority to improve the quality of life, it is no surprise that they are a leading venture in this sector, particularly in the bottled water business.
Being the second largest Swiss company by revenue and controlling more than 70 percent of the world’s bottled water brands, it has always been a question of how they attain those numbers.
To be able to make money from water and maximize it, you have to own it. This gives you the right to potentially use it for as long and as much as you want. In small towns and rural areas, Nestle has taken advantage of and acquired most of those water rights. A research done by Swiss journalist Res Gehriger revealed that in the rural areas of Maine for example, the company pumps out millions of cubic metres of water for transportation to huge bottling factories. Gehriger also noted how Nestle stifles oppositions to its operations in small towns in Fryeburg using influential PR consultants and lawyers.
Those plant locations need to tighten their waters laws so that they could stand to gain something at least from Nestle.
Nestlé’s expansion strategy extended to developing countries with the concept, Nestle Pure Life. This particular brand is seen in countless regions around developing countries and even in almost, if not all parts of Nigeria. A metropolis city like Lagos with its population in millions still have to pay for canisters of clean and healthy water. The sales to these regions grow exponentially with an increasing demand of purified water. Again, another opportunity seized by Nestle. In countries like Pakistan where the water quality is discouraging, the Pure Life concept swoops in as a ‘safe health-enhancing’ alternative.
If there is an access to drinkable water, why do we still purchase bottled water? It is one thing to need it and another thing to want it. Without us noticing it, Nestle has amassed domination in the water market worldwide with increasing plans to extend their reach.
