Illustration: Glenn Harvey
Perrier Well Contamination Sparks Scrutiny for Luxe Water Brand
As the French company faces challenges, the global water business is grappling with questions of sustainability.
In the arid highlands near the town of Vergèze in southern France, the sun beats down on a small stone house as the buzz of cicadas fills the air. Until a few months ago, beneath this tile-roofed structure, a pump reached 159 meters into the ground to tap a spring to source one of the world’s best-known mineral waters: Perrier.
Symbolizing privileged Frenchness, Perrier is a billion-dollar brand, its pear-shaped green bottles found on boardroom tables and in high-end restaurants from New York and London to Hong Kong. The bubbly quencher is among the standout alternatives to sugar-filled sodas for health-conscious urban consumers.