Evian – Of Water, Cows and Abundance

Evian – both the water and the town - suffer from nothing. It is one of the most widely recognized bottled waters on the planet and it’s a ridiculously beautiful place in France. But people still ask me about Evian's water source. "It comes from a natural spring in the town of Evian," I tell them. "No seriously, where do they get the water,” they ask. People seem to think that Evian water does not come from Evian but from…well, where exactly? So in October 2018 I was in Evian France and I went to the exact source of the water so I can explain it firsthand.

Plateau de Gavot

Set amid dairy farms, grasslands, strands of trees and crops is a 35 square kilometer (8,600 acre) piece of land, in essence a catchment basin, or more appropriately, a flat mesa called Plateau de Gavot. In reality it's a large table of land and it sits above the town of Evian. If you ever visit Evian via boat from Lausanne Switzerland this shelf is clearly visible from far away, which then drops off and curves down to the lake where the town and actual spring are both located. If you drive into town you don't notice it. It's on this land that the rains beat down and the water is absorbed into the dirt – glacial sand, clay, and gravel - seeping down between 100-200 meters (300-600 feet) then slowly makes its way under the hillside, taking about 15 years before it percolates to the surface at several natural springs, one of which you can actually visit.

One of Evian's geologists shows me Evian's water source

Standing atop the plateau on a bright, crisp October day, there is little that is remarkable about being here except for its own natural beauty. Sure, the dairy cows meander about (producing a well-known cheese known as Abondance – meaning “abundance,” which also alludes to the amount of water inside these hills), the bells around their necks jingling like an archaic GPS while hawks pierce the air overhead. There are rugged mountains in the distance – actually the inspiration for the mountains that appear on their label - but this particular place, well, it has nothing of significance that the eye can see.

Me, standing at the Plateau de Gavot

But like most water sources I have visited across the globe (Europe, China, U.S.), the real story about water is almost always what you don't see - what happens under our feet. Rain water travels about 10 miles through the plateau to the springs then the remaining water runs into Lake Geneva, picking up minerals and trace elements like calcium and manganese from the moraine soil and glacial sand. That water is bottled and labeled, “Evian,” because it comes from there, a unique spring that was  “discovered” in 1789, though like natural springs across the globe they have been around for thousands of years until someone stumbled upon them and realized they could make money.

Just outside of the town of Evian is their bottled water plant (photos are not allowed inside), which, if the buildings were laid end to end, would run the length of 13 football fields. Shipping your water to 140 countries and offering 30 different SKUs means you need a lot of space. It also means you're bottling constantly and the Evian bottled water plant runs all day, every day. The only time the machinery isn't running is for eight hours Saturday to Sunday when the bottling lines are being cleaned. The plant is like most bottled water plants, rather uninteresting in terms of blow molds and cases of product moving about on conveyor belts. Frankly, every bottled water plant I have visited are sterile and uninspiring. What I did find interesting to watch were their 30 AGVs - automatic guided vehicles - doing the work that fork lift drivers used to do. AGVs are like driverless cars but in this situation they pick up cases of water from the bottling line and deliver it to palates for shipping, pausing and waiting for other AGVs to pass at “intersections” where multiple vehicles meet at the same time. Though devoid of human interaction, there is nonetheless a delicate and rather beautiful ballet of technology happening on the ground.

One of the early water bottles from Evian's collection

You can visit the Evian plant - there's a small gift shop and museum showing what Evian bottles were like back in the day when the resort was initially a tourist destination where people “took the waters.” Aside from that you can also visit the spring, the place where Evian water actually does come from. A visit reaffirms that the best bottled waters come from a specific source, offering the taste of a unique fingerprint of soil, rain, rock and time. 

Going Global – The 2018 Global Bottled Water Awards

(Photo: Zenith Global)

I have been fortunate to be invited to be a judge for the last several years at the Global Bottled Water Congress and Awards, organized by Zenith Global. As a judge at the Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting for the last decade I know that judging water is a remarkable, if not nuanced, experience. But Zenith makes their water competition unique. In addition to the awards for best still water, sparkling, flavored and functional waters, there are awards for innovation, sustainability initiatives, and even marketing campaigns.

180 delegates from 39 countries including buyers, bottlers and other water industry professionals gathered for three days high above Lake Geneva at the gorgeous Evian Resort in France to learn about and celebrate what is happening within the bottled water industry. A few notable items:

--2017 saw 420 billion liters of bottled water in volume sold worth a staggering $194 billion globally.

--Zenith projects that bottled water, including flavored and functional water, will outpace all other beverages in 2018/2019.

--Asia still dominates the bottled water market, as China remains the leader in terms of volume.

--520 million liters of alkaline water are sold worldwide. It's still considered a niche product but the category is nonetheless growing.

--According to Zenith the average person across the globe drinks 62 liters of water each year.

(Photo: Zenith Global)

This year there was a greater focus than in previous years on sustainability during the Congress, which saw speakers from across the globe. “We have to act where we always believed the government should act,” said Zenith Chairman Richard Hall regarding enforcement, transparency and sustainability issues facing the industry, during his opening remarks. And yes, the bottled water industry cannot and should not wait for any government to map out what is appropriate for a specific industry. That the bottled water industry has in some ways ignored these issues is no longer acceptable. It's time for the bottled water industry to be a true leader, to make sustainability a top priority but also get their message out that indeed there are innovations and programs to support the environment happening all the time, but the industry, quite frankly, does a terrible job of talking about them.

Cans provide a functional and creative use in the bottled water industry. Photo: M. Cervin)

Another subject presented by Tetra Pak's Environmental Director Erik Lindroth discussed a data study they had done within Scandinavia countries whereby over time, given personal responsibility of our own choices regarding the packaging problem, their study showed that a polarization had developed between those who feel adamant that recycling is each individual's duty, and the opposite with those who feel increasingly skeptical that recycling and its logical link to climate change is really even a viable issue at all. Yet numbers don't lie and whereas recycling rates need dramatic improvement, the largest contributor of ocean plastic is Southeast Asia, accounting for 80% of ocean plastic waste. And clearly this is a land-based problem given that many Asian countries do not have adequate capture rates including curbside recycling, not to mention any viable infrastructure to even support it. The subject of bio-based bottles was brought up as a potential problem solver but as Andy Peykoff of US Niagara Bottling suggested, “a bio-based bottle will not solve plastics in the ocean.” There needs to be the will to act responsibly coupled with greater education and awareness and to insure that the industry itself is operating on a sustainable model. And this is still where the bottled water industry consistently fails overall.

Me (r) receiving the award for Best Still Water on behalf of Highlands Beverages

Plastics is the single major stumbling block and the current information about ocean pollution from plastics – all plastics, not merely water bottles – will not go away any time soon. “The bottled water industry is really a plastics industry,” Marc Bettinger, Market Development Director for Ardagh Group told me during a session break. Ardagh presented a new line of aluminum cans which, though beautiful and boasting innovative designs, still suffers from being merely a can. Yet water packaged in cans, even glass, is certainly a viable offering over plastic. These are some of the issues still to be dealt with as the bottled water industry begins to dominate the marketplace. There was also a visit to the catchment basin and bottling plant of Evian, there were new innovative waters presented and a great sense of camaraderie amongst delegates. If you’ve ever wondered about attending, I highly recommend it. A complete list of winners is below.

Best Natural Still Water – sponsored by Sidel

Highlands Beverages Pty Ltd – Highlands Beverage Still Water

Best Natural Sparkling Water
Hijos de Rivera S.A.U - Magma Cabreiroá 1L Glass

Best Flavoured Water - sponsored by Ardagh Group
Icelandic Glacial - Icelandic Glacial’s Elderflower Sparkling Water

Best Functional Water
Essentia Water, LLC - Essentia Water

Best New Water Concept
Wine Water Ltd - O.Vine

Best New Brand/Brand Extension
Hijos de Rivera S.A.U - Cabreiroá 0,5L Gorjuss for Kids

Best Packaging/Label Design

Lofoten Arctic Water AS - Lofoten Water 

Best Packaging Solution
JUST Goods - JUST Water

Best Technology Innovation - sponsored by ICE Water Management
AquaBotanical Beverages (Australia) Pty Ltd - AquaBotanical Water

Best Cap/Closure - sponsored by Bericap
NutraPress (Australia) Pty Ltd- NutraPress Cap

and
Water.io - Water.Connected

Best Marketing or Social Media Campaign
Essentia Water, LLC – Essentia Presents The Overachievers

Best CSR Initiative - sponsored by Tetra Pak
AquaBotanical Beverages (Australia) Pty Ltd - AquaBotanical Water

Cap, Then Trade – Smart Caps Make a Smarter Bottle of Water

I hear it all the time. Water is boring so I don’t drink it - I’m too busy - I forgot. Whatever the reasons, many people don’t drink enough water. The bottled water industry has responded with flavored water, carbonated water, functional water, playful bottles and labels, the shape and feel of a bottle, anything and everything to make one of the essentials in our lives – water – easier to consume and therefore to keep us properly hydrated.

As a judge for the 2017 Global Bottled Water Awards, presented by Zenith Global Ltd., in addition to judging categories like Best Tasting Water there is the Best Cap Closure category and I was sent a new device, which I’m impressed by, called the smart cap. Trago, for example, uses an integrated stainless steel bottle with a smart cap that accurately measures how much water you drink. It connects to your smart phone and other wearable devices and allows you to measure your hydration levels. Gatorade also has a similar system. But these are complete systems whereby the bottle and cap are fully integrated and essential to each other. Water.IO has taken this technology further by creating just a bottle cap that fits most water bottles, replacing the cap already on it, transforming most any water bottle into a smart water bottle. This technology is a disposable cap that contains a simple reminder that blinks, vibrates, or sounds an alarm to alert users that it is time to drink water. The smart cap keeps track of when the water bottle is opened or closed and settings can be changed to alert users to drink during a predetermined period – such as once an hour, or once every half hour, and the technology will adjust reminders based on bottle usage so users aren’t reminded to do something they’ve already done. The caps come in various shapes, colors and materials, and lights can come with various colors and sequences, plus there is the ability to add vibration to the reminder as well. They also manufacture a “clip on” version, a cap that attaches to an existing bottled water cap.

Using the Water.IO app connects you to all the major health mobile platforms - Google Fit, Apple Health kit and Microsoft Health, as well as popular fitness devices and applications such as Fitbit and Jawbone. Certainly not everyone wants a reminder to drink water every hour, but beyond the casual user, this technology is ideal for the elderly who may forget to keep hydrated, kids who tend to forget or haven’t developed good hydration habits yet, and for those with medical conditions where keeping hydrated is essential and, frankly, life saving.

Water improves our lives every day, and frankly technology should do the same. With smart cap technology, two worlds come together to make our lives better and easier.