Key dates in history

1843: Henri Nestlé establishes his first lemonade and water bottling factory.

More on Nestlé History

1969: Acquisition of a 30% stake in the Société Générale des Eaux Minérales de Vittel Société Générale des Eaux Minérales de Vittel
Lawyer Louis Bouloumié bought the Gérémoy Spring in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France in 1854 and founded the Vittel Spa two years later. Spa-goers were rapidly won over by the range of treatment. Mr. Bouloumié came up with the idea of bottling Vittel's mineral water to allow them to continue their treatment at home, giving rise to the creation of the "Société Générale des Eaux Minérales de Vittel" (SGEMV) in 1882. The company celebrated its first million bottles in June 1898; fifty-three years later, in January 1951, production had reached 100 million bottles.

The company was heavily oriented towards innovation, and Vittel revolutionized the industry when it launched the first PVC bottle in May 1968. A year later, Nestlé acquired a 30% stake in the company.

By then, SGEMV was the third largest mineral water company in the French market, and it began to focus on development abroad.

Since the 1970s, the company's success is due to its association with the concept of vitality. The company produced its billionth bottle in October 1990. In 1992, Nestlé bought up almost all of Vittel's remaining share capital and Vittel's growth continued as part of its Water Division. Today, Vittel is one of the world's top ten best-selling brands.

The company celebrated its first million bottles in June 1898; fifty-three years later, in January 1951, production had reached 100 million bottles.

The company was heavily oriented towards innovation, and Vittel revolutionized the industry when it launched the first PVC bottle in May 1968. A year later, Nestlé acquired a 30% stake in the company. , in France.

1974: Acquisition of the German Blaue Quellen group.

1987: Nestlé S.A. takes a majority stake in Vittel.

1992: Acquisition of the Source Perrier S.A. Source Perrier SA
According to Perrier history, during the Punic Wars that pitted Rome against Carthage, Hannibal* stopped near a spring of refreshing carbonated water after crossing Spain on elephant back. It was only at the end of the nineteenth century that Louis Perrier, a doctor from Nîmes**, bought the "Bouillens" spring and began to operate it. In financial difficulty, he sold it in 1903 to an Englishman, St John Harmsworth.

St John immediately renamed the spring after its former owner and began to distribute Perrier throughout the British Empire. The famous Perrier bottle was inspired by the Indian clubs that he used for his physical therapy (St John was a paraplegic). In 1947, the spring was sold to Gustave Leven, a young Parisian stockbroker. Within four years, France had become Perrier's main market.

The company went on to buy Contrexéville in 1954, then launched a line of soft drinks and bought out a number of regional springs before going international. Popular slogans such as "Perrier, c'est fou!" contributed to its growth. From 1976 on, Perrier had its greatest success in the United States, where the brand accounted for 80% of all imported water!
The 1990 benzene crisis put a temporary halt to Perrier's expansion, although it has since become the world's leading carbonated mineral water. In a 1992 takeover bid, Perrier was brought into the Nestlé Group.

*Hannibal: General of the Carthaginian army.
** Nîmes: a city located in Southern France . Nestlé becomes the leading player on the world bottled water market, under the name Nestlé Sources International (NSI).

1996: NSI changes its name to accelerate its international development and becomes: Perrier Vittel S.A.

1998:
Take-over of Italy’s leading bottled water producer, Sanpellegrino S.p.A Sanpellegrino S.p.A
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an early connoisseur of the virtues of the water that springs forth not far from Bergame in a steep-walled valley of the Italian Alps. Three centuries later, the Palazzolo family built a spa around the spring. And that's how the history of S. Pellegrino began.

But its international adventure didn't really begin until 1899, when a bottling plant was built. Led by Cesare Mazzoni, the President of the Sanpellegrino S.p.A Company, the fine-bubbled sparkling water could be found at the best tables in major capitals by the early twentieth century. It became associated with the jet set everywhere in the world, from Sydney to New York to Buenos Aires. But S. Pellegrino owes its international adventure especially to Italian emigrants: wherever they settled, this little bit of Italy went along with them for the ride.

The company experienced extraordinary growth from 1925 to 1957, when new shareholder Ezio Granelli took over the reins, modernizing the production facilities, launching the first line of soft drinks, and sponsoring sports teams. His son-in-law Guiseppe Mentasti succeeded him. The company took the name Sanpellegrino S.p. A. in 1970 and continued to innovate and grow, becoming a full-fledged group and opening its share capital to newcomers. One of them was the Nestlé Group, which bought it out in 1998. S. Pellegrino is now one of Nestlé Waters' flagship brands. .
Launch of Nestlé Pure Life, the first multi-site bottled water under the Nestlé brand.

2000: Simultaneous launch of Nestlé Aquarel, pan-European, multi-site spring water on six markets.

2002: Perrier Vittel becomes Nestlé Waters.

2003: Nestlé Waters celebrates its tenth anniversary and acquires Europe's leading HOD company, the Powwow Group.

2004: Nestlé Waters expands its business activity in Asia (in South Korea and Indonesia) through external growth.

2005: Nestlé Waters further develops its business on the African continent via the launch of Nestlé Pure Life in Nigeria and the creation of a partnership in Algeria.

2006: Nestlé Pure Life becomes the Group's leading brand.

2007: Nestlé Waters acquires Sources Minérales Henniez S.A. and becomes the Swiss leader in the bottled water market.

2008:
Joint venture agreements signed in Mexico and Chile.
NESTLÉ PURE LIFE , has become in just a decade the world's leading bottled water brand, with 5 billion litres sold worldwide.