Producer
Nestlé Waters (International)
Retains Perrier, S.Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Vittel, Contrex after 2021 BlueTriton sale; spun off as standalone business January 2025; announced €5B+ sale process with Blackstone, KKR, Bain Capital, PAI Partners bidding; Perrier source is the Vergèze spring in Gard, France, used since Roman times
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Inputs supplied
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Goods downstream
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Facilities
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Stories
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map, where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Perrier (Vergeze, France)
35%S.Pellegrino (San Pellegrino Terme, Lombardy)
35%Acqua Panna + Vittel + Contrex
30%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains, chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Origin2023
The Perrier benzene crisis of February 1990 is one of the most studied food safety product recalls in business history. A Perrier worker in Vergeze, France forgot to replace the charcoal filters used to remove naturally-occurring benzene from the CO2 gas added to carbonated water (Perrier adds CO2 to the water to replace gas lost in bottling). Benzene, a carcinogen, was found in Perrier bottles in North Carolina during a routine test. Perrier initially denied a widespread problem, then recalled 160 million bottles globally — removing its product from shelves in 120 countries. The French brand, whose very identity was purity, had to destroy a year's worth of inventory. The recovery took 18 months and market share never fully returned to pre-crisis levels in the US. Nestlé acquired Source Perrier in 1992 — two years after the crisis weakened the company — through a hostile takeover supported by Gustave Leven's family resignation from the board. The largest commercial spring water crisis in history was caused by a maintenance worker forgetting one step of a routine filter replacement procedure.
Nestle Waters ↗