As Pepsi struggles to regain market share, Indra Nooyi’s job is on the line

Mar 17th 2012 | from the print edition

IN OCTOBER 1996 the cover of Fortune magazine showed Roger Enrico, then the chief executive of PepsiCo, trapped in a Coke bottle under the headline “How Coke is kicking Pepsi’s can”. Ten years later, just after Pepsi had surpassed Coca-Cola in market capitalisation for the first time in their 108-year rivalry, the same magazine ran another big story on the cola giants. It admitted that it was wrong to have declared Pepsi defeated and lauded it as one of America’s best-run companies.

Fast forward another six years and Coke is again kicking Pepsi’s can. Both are losing cola drinkers in America as consumers switch from fizzy, sugary drinks to healthier water, tea, juices and sports drinks. But whereas Coca-Cola has lost on average 2% a year in like-for-like volume of fizzy drinks in America since 2004, Pepsi has lost 3% (see chart), according to Sanford C. Bernstein, an investment bank. That means its American drinks business has shrunk by about 20%. Coke’s Simply juices and its lower-priced Minute Maid are taking share from the fruity concoctions of Pepsi’s Tropicana. And Coke’s sports drink, Powerade, is knocking spots off Gatorade, Pepsi’s brew for athletes.

Faced with mounting investor dissatisfaction about Pepsi’s stagnant share price, the food-and-drinks giant recently embarked on an effort to relaunch the company. On February 9th the group announced that it was cutting 8,700 jobs, or 3% of its workforce. Having underinvested in its flagship beverage brands for years, it is increasing investment in marketing and advertising by $500m-600m. It has some catching-up to do: at the end of 2010 Pepsi spent 3.3% of sales on advertising compared with 8.3% of sales at Coca-Cola, according to Judy Hong, who follows drinks makers for Goldman Sachs.

Pepsi is also pinning its hope on the launch across America on March 26th of Pepsi Next, a new soda sweetened with both high-fructose syrup and artificial sweeteners which has 60% less sugar than classic Pepsi. Angelique Krembs of Pepsi says the new drink is aimed at consumers who are keen to imbibe less sugar with their cola but dislike the taste of diet drinks. She splits this mostly male group in two: “dualists”, who switch between regular and diet (and sometimes mix the two), and “resistants”, who never touch either.

Repeat performance

Will Pepsi’s reset be enough to win over investors? Pepsi Next is dividing opinions. “We have seen this movie before,” says Mark Swartzberg, a drinks analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, a bank. In 2004 Pepsi launched Pepsi Edge, a mid-calorie soda, which Coca-Cola matched with a new mid-calorie brew called C2. Both disappeared from the shelves after a few years.

Is Nooyi ready to move on?

Pepsi’s boss, Indra Nooyi, is seeking to revive the company’s core business while continuing her ambitious drive to transform the company into a maker of healthier drinks and snacks, and a better corporate citizen. In the past few years Ms Nooyi has spent disproportionate time and effort on promoting products that Pepsi calls “good for you” (oatmeal, fruit juices and sports drinks), which make up about 20% of its sales. She is aiming nearly to triple the revenue of nutritious products, to $30 billion, by 2020.

Ms Nooyi has also devoted resources to cultivating a corporate image focused on global social responsibility. In 2010 Pepsi skipped soda ads at the Super Bowl, launching instead a $20m online competition for the nomination of worthy causes that Pepsi might finance. The Refresh Project succeeded in gathering 80m online votes and helped numerous homeless shelters and orphanages. But it did not sell much soda, which is why Pepsi went back to its usual ads at the 2011 Super Bowl.

It will take time for the revised strategy to bear fruit, as it did for Coca-Cola when it reset its course in the late 2000s after a series of management and marketing mishaps. Coke’s bosses now feel they are on the right track with its offering of fizzy drinks, vitamin water, juice, coffee and tea. They think they are giving health-conscious customers sufficient choice. Of the 3,500 drinks Coke sells worldwide, more than 800 are zero- or low-calorie.

If Ms Nooyi’s relaunch does not work Pepsi may get a new chief executive. The company seems to be preparing for a possible change at the top. On March 12th it revamped its management structure, poaching back Brian Cornell—a former Pepsi man who went on to run the Sam’s Club division of Walmart—to head Pepsi’s Americas Foods snacks division. It put John Compton, the current head of Americas Foods, in charge of all the company’s global groups, making him an heir apparent in the newly created role of president. Another possible crown prince is Zein Abdalla, boss of Pepsi’s European business.

Ms Nooyi may leave before she is pushed out. She is one of the contenders for the top job at the World Bank. Though she says she loves her job, she has talked in the past of her desire to spend some of her career in public service. And the World Bank may suit her zeal to do good on a global scale rather more comfortably than the maker of popular but largely fatty, salty and sugary foodstuffs.

WASHINGTON — The American intelligence community warned in a report released on Thursday that problems with water could destabilize countries in North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia over the next decade.

Increasing demand and competition caused by the world’s rising population and scarcities created by climate change and poor management threaten to disrupt economies and increase regional tensions, the report concludes.

Prepared at the request of the State Department, the report is based on a classified National Intelligence Estimate completed last October that reflected an increasing focus on environmental and other factors that threaten security. An estimate reflects the consensus judgment of all intelligence agencies.

While the report concluded that wars over water are unlikely in the coming decade, it said that countries could use water as political and economic leverage over neighbors and that major facilities like dams and desalination plants could become targets of terrorist attacks. Coupled with poverty and other social factors, problems with water could even contribute to the political failure of weaker nations.

The public report, unlike the classified version, did not specify countries at greatest risk for water-related disruption but analyzed conditions on major river basins in regions with high potential for conflict — from the Jordan to the Tigris and Euphrates to the Brahmaputra in South Asia.

“During the next 10 years, many countries important to the United States will almost certainly experience water problems — shortages, poor water quality, or floods — that will contribute to the risk of instability and state failure, and increase regional tensions,” the report said. “Additionally states will focus on addressing internal water-related social disruptions which will distract them from working with the United States on important policy objectives.”

The report warned that water shortages would become acute in some regions within the next decade, as demand continued to rise. While disputes over water have historically led to negotiated settlements over access, upstream countries will increasingly use dams and other projects “to obtain regional influence or preserve their water interests” over weaker countries downstream.

This is already happening on the Tigris and Euphrates, where Turkey, Syria and Iran have harnessed the headwaters of the two rivers that flow through Iraq.

The release was timed to the announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of a new partnership to promote conservation and improved management in conjunction with corporations like Coca-Cola and Ford and nongovernmental organizations like the Nature Conservancy.

The report said that improvements in management — like the use of drip irrigation systems — could ease the potential for shortages, especially in agriculture, which accounts for 70 percent of the world’s water use.

“Numerous countries have over-pumped their groundwater to satisfy growing food demand,” the report said. “Depleted and degraded groundwater can threaten food security and thereby risk social disruption.”

March 22 — Avantium, a research and development company based in Amsterdam, is partnering with Group Danone to produce bio-sourced water bottles.

Danone Research and Avantium have entered into a joint development agreement to produce bottles made from polyethylene furanoate — a furanic polyester developed by Avantium to be a 100 percent bio-based, recyclable alternative to PET.

PEF boasts superior thermal, barrier and light-weighting properties compared to PET, according to Avantium.

Avantium makes PEF using its YXY technology, a catalytic chemical process that converts carbohydrates into bio-based polymers, including an alternative to terephthalic acid.

Using XYX technology, Danone and Avantium will focus on creating renewable materials using feedstocks that do not compete directly with food production. XYX can use a variety of feedstocks like grains, energy crops, lignocellulosic matter, waste streams, waste paper or agricultural residues, Avantium said in a news release.

The firm will continue to produce PEF using renewable feedstock that does not compete with food, they said.

This is the second major partnership for Avantium. In December, Coca-Cola Co. announced it was investing in the firm, and two other companies, in an effort to find a 100 percent bio-based version of its Plant Bottle.

Avantium currently operates a pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, with the capacity to produce 40 tons of PEF for application development.

Jessica Holbrook is a reporter for Plastics News, a sister publication of Waste & Recycling News.

Water continues to briskly flow into and out of convenience stores. The key for retailers is to cut through the clutter and put together the most profitable set possible.

Bottled water volume overall grew a little over 4% in 2011, according to preliminary tracking figures from the Beverage Marking Corp. (BMC). The single-serve retail PET segment, which is comprised of domestic brands of non-sparkling water in 1.5 liter and smaller plastic bottles, rose 5.4%.

“The single-serve segment of this category accounts for more than 60% of the total bottled water category volume,” said Gary Hemphill, managing director of New York-based beverage tracking firm. “And we are projecting sold growth in 2012 at roughly the same rate as 2011.”

Numbers at Chevron’s ExtraMile stores bear out BMC’s optimistic outlook.

“Water sales showed modest growth for 2011, which was a significant improvement over 2010,” said Theresa Webb, the beverage category manager for Chevron.

However, Butch Fulton, beverage category manager for Portland, Ore.-based Plaid Pantry, expressed concern over the fact that supermarkets are selling 24-packs of single-serve bottled water at a deeply discounted price. “Their prices are so cheap that we can’t possibly afford to compete with them,” he said. “Our biggest concern is what this could do to sales longer term as customers get more conditioned to buying in bulk.”

On the other hand, premium-priced Fiji water—in a single-serve size—sells well at Plaid Pantry.

BMC’s preliminary figures show that the volume of value-added waters—flavored and vitamin—and mineral-enhanced varieties , dropped 1.6% last year.

“In many cases, consumers may have gotten a sour taste in their mouths when they read the labels and realized that some of these waters contain as many calories as a bottle of soda pop,” Fulton said, adding that the zero calorie varieties of flavored and enhanced waters, led by Glaceau’s Smartwater, have really taken off.

NEW YORK (CNBC) –Soda sales have been declining for the past seven years, but the pace of the decline quickened in 2011 despite growth in the overall beverage market.

Americans continue to guzzle more bottled water, ready-to-drink tea and coffee, sports drinks and energy drinks, rather than sip on soda and fruit juices, according to beverage statistics released Tuesday.

The U.S. beverage market grew by 0.9% in 2011, according to preliminary data from Beverage Marketing, a research, consulting, and financial-services firm that tracks the beverage industry. Although this marked the second year of growth for the beverage industry, after two consecutive declines in 2008 and 2009, the pace of growth slowed from 2010.

Beverage Marketing said sales were hurt by higher prices, which made the drinks more difficult for struggling lower-income consumers to afford.

Beverage Digest, an industry newsletter that also issued industry sales data Tuesday, estimates carbonated soft drink prices were up about 3% last year, as companies passed on the higher cost of sweeteners, such as corn syrup and other raw materials, to consumers.

All of the big three beverage companies Coca-Cola(KO) PepsiCo(PEP) and Dr Pepper Snapple(DPS) old lower volumes in the U.S., as sales of leading brands such as Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi-Cola, and Mt. Dew fell, according to Beverage Digest.

Both Coke and Pepsi saw their market shares shrink, while Dr Pepper’s share was flat, the newsletter said. Sales of Dr Pepper’s flagship brand rose 0.5% last year, a good showing, but not nearly as good as Fanta, the ninth largest soda brand, which saw sales volume climb 3%. Fanta’s growth was enough to unseat Diet Dr Pepper from the top 10.

While Fanta’s growth was impressive, the fastest-growing beverage brand was Dasani, a bottled water sold by Coca-Cola. Dasani’s volume rose 11%, according to Beverage Digest. It was followed by Arizona iced tea, which grew 9.3%, and Pepsi’s Gatorade, which rose 8%.

To put this in perspective, carbonated soft drink sales grew about 3% annually in the U.S. for much of the ’90s. The category has been declining since 2005, however, as increasingly health-conscious consumers turn to other beverages perceived to be more healthful.

In the carbonated soft drink category, six of the top 10 brands lost volume, and only four grew. Overall, sales of carbonated soft drinks fell 1% in 2011, faster than the 0.5% decline in 2010, Beverage Digest said.

Beverage Digest includes fast-growing energy drinks within the category. Without energy drinks, sales of carbonated soft drinks would have fallen 1.5%.

Beverage Marketing estimates energy drink sales grew 14.4% by volume in 2011. This means it was the fastest-growing segment with the beverage industry. But it remains a relatively small share of the total beverage industry volume. In fact, only the read-to-drink coffee category is smaller, Beverage Marketing said.

Not surprisingly, no energy drink or ready-to-drink coffee brand ranks among the leading trademarks.

Sports drinks are another matter. Gatorade has been growing at a fast clip and topped the one-billion-gallon mark for the first time last year. Gatorade, coupled with G2 and other brand variations, is the fifth-largest beverage trademark, according to Beverage Marketing.

As for bottled water, its growth continues to accelerate. In 2008 and 2009, tough economic times led to a decline in bottled water sales, but the category recovered in 2010, and its growth rate accelerated in 2011. Bottled water sales volume was up 4.1% in 2011, faster than the 3.5% growth in 2010.

“The strong showing by high-end and functional products shows that consumers — at least the more affluent ones — are not concerned exclusively with economic consideration when making their beverage selections,” said Michael C. Bellas, chairman and CEO of Beverage Marketing.

Visits to Mexico City are often centered around places to see, things to do, soaking up some of the local colors, and in general , having a good time. The one rule given by family and friends when visiting Mexico is “don’t drink the water.”  The people living in Mexico City will advise you the same. Restaurants do not place glasses of water on the tables. You will rarely see a drinking fountain and when you do it would not necessarily be a good idea to try it out. Even if you are having dinner with friends they will hand you a bottle of water opposed to getting some from the tap.

Residents and tourists alike avoid drinking the native waters making bottled water a multi-billion dollar industry. Mexico has become one of the most valuable water markets for beverage bottling companies in the world.  Mexicans have been long noted as the biggest drinkers of soda consuming about 166 liters of carbonated beverages per person per year but that number pales in comparison to the estimated average 248 liters of bottled water per capita, more than double the 110 liters estimated average consumption by Americans.

Government anti-obesity campaigns (ban of sodas in schools) and other regulations have flattened the earnings growth of soda sales. Companies like Pepsi Co (NYSE: PEP), Coca-Cola (NASDAQ: COKE), and Group Danone (NASDAQOTH: DANOY.PK) are battling  for the most shares of the bottled water market. Currently Danone is the market leader but Coke and Pepsi are working to catch up.

“Soft drinks are no longer such a great business in Mexico,” say Ana Trulin, an analyst with Euromonitor in Mexico City. “Water is the big profit maker.”

Mexican bottled water sales are projected to eclipse $13 billion by 2015, an increase over the $9 billion in 2011, surpassing the U.S. market. Eighty-five percent of bottled water sold in Mexico is sold in 10-20 liter jugs sold through home delivery services. Pepsi who held the dominant position in the early 2000s maintains their hold in the jug market. Unfortunately for Pepsi, that is not where the big money rests. Single serve bottles are king and are about ten times more profitable. Danone and Coke have cornered the single serve market.

French company Danone has secured 26.5% percent of Mexico’s water market, mostly in part to its strong advertising and packaging for its Bonafont brand aimed at women looking lose weight. Bonafont is marketed as “light water” and is packaged with peach labeling with a slim silhouette.

Coke boasts 23.5 % percent of the bottled water market while Pepsi brings up the rear with only 13%. Analysts note that Pepsi is currently focused on combining its largest Mexican bottlers; Empresas Polar, and Embotelladoras Unidas. Pepsi’s distraction has allowed Danone and Coke plenty of room to build market share.

Pablo Lopez, marketing manager for Ciel, is leading the charge for Coke in Mexican territories. Coke has implemented a five year expansion plan worth $5 billion and expects to spend $1 billion this year alone. The company expects to double its Ciel sales by 2020 overtaking Danone. Lopez says, “The market is extremely competitive, especially in the single serve category but we are confident we can get there.”

It is estimated that a third of this year’s investment budget will be devoted to Ceil. Ceil intends to put their hands into a little bit of everything starting with the introduction of a round, 350ml bottle designed for children. They will also be promoting flip top lids and thinner, flexible plastic bottles that are easier to recycle. Ceil has placed television advertising spots featuring glamorous celebrities twisting the new bottles into compact strips saying the slogan “ Dale La Vuelta” –“Turn it Around”- hoping to snare the ever growing eco-friendly population.

Over the past few years Bonafont has introduced several flavored waters in different sizes which Ciel plans to offer alternatives; namely their own versions of flavored water, mineralized, and “purified” to woo Mexico’s growing base of health conscience consumers. A Danone spokesperson stated that the company will be increasing their flavored water line in an effort to boost market share.

Coke’s Lopez has decided to focus on the young and active in Ciel’s marketing campaigns. Bonafont, on the hand, is perceived as a more fashionable product.  Analysts predict that Coke will probably see an addition of 15% to Ciel’s profit margin while the higher end Bonafont will likely add 18% to theirs. Coke’s water profit margins are one to two points higher than their soft drink margins because of the lower costs of production.

One of the reasons beverage companies are making money in Mexico is due to cholera outbreaks in the mid 1990s resulting in a long standing mistrust of local reservoirs. Health officials encouraged the turn to bottled waters which in turn encouraged less than honest hawkers to distribute faux “purified” waters. Many natives began to boil tap water to ensure safety but a rise in natural gas prices made the practice expensive. Other problems exist; earthquakes that damaged miles of water mainline along with areas that are still lacking access to tap water and sanitation.  In some areas the water tastes so bad that residents question its safety. Although the Mexican government has committed to spend billions in water and sanitation infrastructure there’s still massive distrust of the supplies.

The Director of Mexico City’s water utility, Ramon Aguirre Diaz, says the water quality isn’t as bad as believed; 95% of Mexico City’s drinking water is potable as is 80-90% of water elsewhere in the country. “Many people prefer to carry cool-looking water bottles instead of paying municipal water bills,” Diaz states.

Currently, Mexico’s residents pay nearly 500 times more per 1,000 liters of bottled water than they would for city water. It has simply become more fashionable in many case to be seen carrying around branded water. “Drinking bottled water has become chic in Mexico,” Diaz said.

The growing profit margins for Coke and Danone would tend to agree with Diaz. Both companies are presuming that bottled water will not be losing its stature anytime soon.

Locals band together to help tornado victims

By WILLIAM WHITE

Published: May 02, 2011

Auburn –

About 800 people in Tuscaloosa will get the best of what one Auburn food establishment has to offer Wednesday.

The Chicken Salad Chick will load up volunteers and a day’s supply of “The Classic Carol,” its best-selling chicken salad selection, at 7 a.m. so they can serve the hundreds of sack lunches at the Belk Activity Center in Tuscaloosa later that day.

“We are so excited,” said Stacy Brown, who owns the restaurants with her husband, Kevin Brown.

The Browns are part of broad local efforts by the business community, churches and local agencies helping communities ravaged by the tornados that struck the state last week.

“We are going to take all of our chicken salad that we would cook for the day to Tuscaloosa,” she said. “And we are going to serve 800 lunches.

“There are so many times you want to give, like to the earthquakes and things like that, and we think this is our time.”

She said her employees and neighbors have volunteered their time to prepare the food and travel to Tuscaloosa. Her two sons, Jack and Carson Evans, will also be along for the experience.

The couple’s two restaurants at 555 Opelika Road and at 1611 S. College St will be closed for business Wednesday for the trip to Tuscaloosa.

Stacy said the idea to help struck the couple at the same time.

“We were walking to dinner on Friday night and I said, ‘Kevin, I really want to go to Tuscaloosa.’ He said, ‘I’m so glad you said something. I have thought the same thing. Let’s do it.’”

She said they contacted the employees and did all the planning over the weekend.

Other efforts

“The Auburn-Opelika Tourism Bureau and the Auburn Chamber of Commerce collected more than 40,000 pounds of donations which were taken to Tuscaloosa Saturday,” wrote Robyn Bridges, Auburn and Opelika Tourism Bureau, public relations and communications director, in an email calling for volunteers to help with sorting and packing Monday.

Auburn Chamber of Commerce President Lolly Steiner, co-worker Stephanie Calhoun, Renate Robinson and John Wild with the Auburn and Opelika Tourism Bureau were still busy sorting, boxing and loading supplies Monday morning to be taken on a truck donated by Two Men and a Truck to Rainsville in north Alabama near Fort Payne.

Auburn University is also organizing volunteers and serving as a drop-off point for relief donations. On campus, there will be 25 to 30 volunteers sorting, boxing and loading supplies throughout the day through Wednesday at the Ham Wilson Livestock Arena on Donahue Drive in Auburn. Items sorted and stacked Monday will go on a small Auburn University trailer to be taken were those items are needed most.

“We have the capacity to deal with whatever comes in,” said Susan McCallister with Auburn University Public Safety and Security. “We are coordinating with State EMA and other relief groups to organize donations and ship to areas most in need.”

AU and the Lee County EMA are using the livestock arena as a staging point in their effort to collect needed supplies from Auburn, Opelika and other parts of Lee County to be shipped to communities impacted by the tornado outbreak.

Donations can be made from 7 a.m. to midnight through Wednesday at the arena, located at 650 S. Donahue Drive.

“Some of the biggest needs are for baby care supplies, especially Pedialyte; personal hygiene items; non-perishable food; and first-aid supplies,” McCallister said.

With inclement weather expected Tuesday, plans to take Auburn University student volunteers to help in recovery efforts have been moved to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

“Auburn University Emergency Management personnel and the Division of Student Affairs are working to organize day trips that will allow Auburn students to volunteer their time to help storm victims,” said Chance D. Corbett, associate director of the Department of Public Safety and Security/Emergency Management at Auburn University. “These day trips will be scheduled to leave the Student Center at 7 a.m. and return no later than 7 p.m.

“We encourage you to participate in a day trip once you have completed your final exams,” Corbett said in an email to students. “Volunteering to help will not excuse you from final exams.”

He said bus transportation will be provided to volunteering students, as well as lunch, snacks, drinks and necessary equipment like gloves and eye protection.

In Opelika, the first trailer load from Trinity United Methodist Church went to Eclectic and Cordova, according to an email from the Opelika Chamber of Commerce.

Trinity will be accepting donations of supplies for the foreseeable future. The drop-off point is Trinity UMC Christian Life Center, 800 Second Ave. in Opelika. For more information call the church office at 334-745-2632.

The church says there is an immediate need for bottled water, power bars, breakfast bars, Gatorade and non-perishable food.

Bottled water … for babies

Product aimed at busy moms finds new niche in wake of disasters.

Lara Hodgson, entrepreneur, board member of the Georgia Regional Transit Authority and brand new mom, is out running errands with her son when of course he gets hungry and of course she doesn’t have fresh, room-temperature water around to mix him some formula, so, of course, the baby throws a fit. This happens often enough that she complains to her husband, repeatedly, that someone should come up with pre-measured bottled water with room enough to add formula. Something just for a baby.

He tells her in effect to, well, put up or hush up.

So Hodgson puts up. And she winds up developing Nourish, a recyclable, pre-measured bottle of water with enough room for a mom to add formula on the go. That’s right. Bottled springwater for babies. All in a patented BPA-free package.

All together now: Why didn’t I think of that?

But women have been having babies for eons and hydrating them, for the most part, without benefit of specially packaged water. On this point, Hodgson agrees. So why on earth would they need it now?

“Being a stay-at-home mom has changed, because stay-at-home moms are never at home any more,” Hodgson said. “They are always on the go. We want to be where you are in a pinch.”

And it’s that constant state of motion that can make it inconvenient for a busy middle-class mom to have a clean bottle or the right amount of water at hand. Hodgson breast-fed her son for six months but sometimes needed to supplement his diet with formula.

She and her business partner Stacey Abrams — yes, that Stacey Abrams, Georgia’s House minority leader — determined there were enough women like Hodgson who would be willing to pay between $3 and $4 for water that doesn’t come from a tap but from a spring. Blue Springs near Callaway Gardens to be exact. The company also makes small containers of water in sippy-cup form for toddlers.

But isn’t there something indulgent, if not unnecessary or even wasteful, about buying a special bottled water for a baby or toddler, even if the containers are reusable? How difficult is it to wash out a regular bottle or sippy cup and fill it with water? For many moms the task likely doesn’t rise beyond a slight inconvenience.

But what if you had been a mom in Haiti right after the devastating 2010 earthquake? Or a nursing mother in Tokyo worried about radiation in drinking water following the biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl?

Those are two situations where Nourish has found an unexpected niche.

Customers donated cases of the water, Hodgson said, right after the earthquake hit Haiti. She got the Atlanta-based charity Childspring International to deliver and distribute the bottles, along with formula, within days of the disaster. Doctors handed them out at field hospitals.

What made the difference for those mothers and babies wasn’t simply the clean water but the design of the bottles, said Rose Emily Bermudez, executive director of Childspring.

It’s impossible for a infant to take a swig from an open-mouthed plastic container. But Nourish has the necessary plastic nipple built in.

“The community felt like it was one of the best things we sent,” Bermudez said. “I went back to Haiti a few months ago and some mothers still have those bottles.”

In the aftermath of Japan’s nuclear crisis, Koyuru Tsunoda, who operates an online health-food business in Woodland Hills, Calif., recently purchased a few cases of the water to send to friends and colleagues in Tokyo. Tsunoda, who was born and raised in Japan, did so after traces of radiation were found in tap water in Tokyo and nursing mothers were advised not to drink it.

“When the Japanese government said a child under 1 year old shouldn’t drink the water, I said, we have to send water,” Tsunoda said.

Filling the order took on a special significance for Hodgson, who, as an engineering student at Georgia Tech, did a fellowship in Japan and lived for months with a family in what is now the stricken Fukashima province.

“They are all OK,” said Hodgson, who has kept in contact with the family over the years.

Though designed for kids, there have been some unusual adult requests for Hodgson’s product. Stylists have purchased the sippy cups because the cup’s design allows their clients to drink water without messing up their lipstick or dribbling water down the front of their pricey shirts and dresses. And it has shown up in the hands of a few celebrity babies, notably Kimora Lee Simmon’s son on her show, “Life in the Fab Lane.”

For Hodgson, it’s just fine. Better a kid get hooked on bottled water early on rather than sugary juice-box drinks, she said.

Inside AJC.COM

AmeriCares Responding to Deadly Twisters in the U.S.

STAMFORD, Conn., — AmeriCares is delivering medical aid, bottled water and other critically needed relief supplies to communities across the South devastated by the worst U.S. disaster since Hurricane Katrina.

AmeriCares is sending medicines and medical supplies, including prescription medications for chronically ill patients, to clinics in Arkansas and Mississippi treating tornado survivors without health insurance.  In Smithville, Miss., a small town near the Alabama border decimated by last week’s storms, AmeriCares is rushing critically needed relief supplies including medicines, cleaning supplies for residents trying to salvage the remains of their homes and hygiene products for families left homeless.  AmeriCares emergency response worker E.T. Theotokatos, who was in Smithville this weekend assessing the damage from the EF-5 tornado – the most powerful category of twister on record – said the needs were evident everywhere he went.

“I could count only four standing structures. Everything else seemed vaporized,” he said.  ”A whole trailer park had been whisked away.  The town hall – destroyed.  An elementary school –  flattened. The police station –  gone. And house after house was reduced to rubble.  AmeriCares will be there to help the community recover from this tragic disaster as residents rebuild their homes and their lives.”

AmeriCares is working with Nestle Waters North America and Feeding America to deliver over 265,000 bottles of water to food banks and shelters aiding tornado survivors in Alabama and Tennessee.  AmeriCares also recently delivered bottled water to Indiana and Missouri for residents affected by flooding and to emergency crews fighting wildfires in Texas.  Additionally, for North Carolina, which was battered by tornadoes in mid-April, AmeriCares delivered a shipment of bottled water and over $90,000 worth of medical aid for the Helping Hands Clinic in Sanford, N.C.

AmeriCares has been responding to natural and man-made disasters around the world for nearly 30 years, saving lives and restoring health and hope.  AmeriCares also supports more than 300 health clinics serving the uninsured and underinsured across the U.S. on an ongoing basis with deliveries of medicines and medical supplies.  Donations to AmeriCares U.S. Disaster Relief Fund will support the organization’s tornado response in the South.  To donate, go to www.AmeriCares.org or call 1(800) 486-HELP.

About AmeriCares

AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization which delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world and across the United States.  Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $10 billion in humanitarian aid to 147 countries.  For more information, visit www.AmeriCares.org.

For more information contact Donna Porstner:  203-658-9579
 or go to dporstner@AmeriCares.org.

This release has been provided by Breck Speed, CEO and President, Mountain Valley Spring Co. If you would like to be added to Breck’s regular Press Release distribution list, feel free to contact him as follows: Breck Speed, bspeed@mountainvalleyspring.com, office 501-624-1635.

Mountain Valley Spring Water, Sending Water To Japan

Updated: Apr 05, 2011 4:30 PM CDT

By Michelle Rupp

Hot Springs – One Arkansas company is doing it’s share to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.  Mountain Valley Spring Water in Hot Springs is sending more than ten thousand cases of it’s bottled water.

These green bottles have been to the White House, featured in movies and soon will be on their way to the other side of the world.  Mountain Valley Water has been exporting to Japan for several years.  A few weeks ago however, their orders got much larger.  “Certainly after the tsunami and the need for good, clean, premium water, we got the call and as we speak we are actually loading ocean going containers.” says Taylor Cranor, of Mountain Valley Spring Company.

The bottles will be shipped from Hot Springs, to Memphis, Tennessee.  Then loaded on a railcar and sent to Southern California then onto Yokohama, Japan.  “We’re pleased nature has dealt us with the capacity to supply them.  Certainly Hot Springs is in not in any proximity to Japan but they fact they called on us we’re very proud of for the state of Arkansas and for Mountain Valley”

More than a thousand cases will be filled by the end of the day.  Every bottle on the line Tuesday is ear marked for Japan.  Even down to the label.  “If you look at the translation on our bottle, all though I cannot translate it for you, is very much in detail to keep the Japanese consumer very informed of the quality of our product.”

It’ll take about 6 weeks for these bottles to reach Yokohama, Japan.  They will then be distributed to retailers throughout the region.

This release has been provided by Breck Speed, CEO and President, Mountain Valley Spring Co. If you would like to be added to Breck’s regular Press Release distribution list, feel free to contact him as follows: Breck Speed, bspeed@mountainvalleyspring.com, office 501-624-1635.

Coca-Cola’s Give It Back racks a nod to sustainability commitment

APRIL 6, 2011 | BY ALLISON CERRA

ATLANTA — Coca-Cola has developed 100% recyclable display racks for use in U.S. grocery and convenience stores.

The new Give It Back racks are stand-alone units made of easily recyclable corrugated cardboard, Coca-Cola said. The soft drink giant said the merchandise displays expand its commitment to sustainability. The racks currently are being tested in select markets and are expected to become widely available in late 2011.

“Coca-Cola recovered 400 million lbs. of cans and bottles in the U.S. in 2010, yet we want to do more,” said Gary Wygant, VP business development of Coca-Cola Recycling. “By creating a 100% recyclable merchandise display rack, Coca-Cola is asking grocery and convenience stores to join our sustainability efforts by returning or recycling our racks, just like we ask consumers to return or recycle our product packaging.”

This release has been provided by Breck Speed, CEO and President, Mountain Valley Spring Co. If you would like to be added to Breck’s regular Press Release distribution list, feel free to contact him as follows: Breck Speed, bspeed@mountainvalleyspring.com, office 501-624-1635.

Nestle’s First-Quarter Sales Exceed Analyst Estimates on Emerging Markets

By Tom Mulier - Apr 15, 2011

Nestle SA (NESN), the world’s largest food company, reported first-quarter sales growth that beat estimates and said profitability will improve in the second half as it raises bottled-water prices and sells more premium pet food.

So-called organic revenue gained 6.4 percent, the Vevey, Switzerland-based company said on its website today. Analysts expected a 5.9 percent gain in the measure, which excludes acquisitions, divestments and currency shifts, according to the average of 17 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Organic sales rose 12 percent in emerging markets, where the company gets about a third of revenue. That surpassed growth of 3 percent in developed countries. Price increases added 1.5 percentage points to revenue growth, Nestle indicated, adding that pricing should “tick up” over the course of the year. Nestle said it expects full-year margins to improve at constant currency rates, fueled by the second half.

“It’s a strong set of figures driven by emerging markets, but Europe and North America were better than expected and not just driven by pricing,” Jon Cox, an analyst at Kepler Capital Markets, said by e-mail.

Nestle rose as much as 1.6 percent in Zurich trading and was up 50 centimes, or 0.9 percent, at 53.75 francs as of 11:13 a.m. The shares are little changed in the past year, compared with Kraft Foods Inc.’s 6.1 percent gain and PepsiCo Inc.’s 0.7 percent advance.

‘Solid as a Rock’

The volume of goods sold increased 4.9 percent in the quarter, Nestle said, beating the 3.7 percent average estimate of the analysts. Higher pricing may lead to a deceleration in volume growth, Roddy Child-Villiers, head of investor relations, said on a conference call. He declined to give a forecast for margins in the first half.

“Nestle was solid as a rock in the first quarter, and is guiding for more of the same in the balance of the year,” Andrew Wood, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a note.

Nestle increased prices on bottled water in emerging markets such as Latin America and Asia in the first quarter, and probably will increase pricing for the entire unit in the full year, Child-Villiers said. The Swiss company owns the world’s largest bottled-water brand in Pure Life.

IBWA reports plastic bottles reach 31% recycling rate

April 18 — The International Bottled Water Association reports PET plastic bottled water containers are among the most recycled items in curbside collection programs, and called for increases in recycling of non-beverage bottle plastics.

Citing a recent bale study conducted by the National Association for PET Container Resources, IBWA said plastic bottles, including bottled water containers, reached a recycling rate of 31%, a small increase from last year´s rate of 30.9%. In 2004, the study reported a recycling rate of 16.62% for the bottles, IBWA said.

“We are really proud to have expanded bottled water´s PET plastic recycling leadership position, and want to recognize the millions of thoughtful bottled water consumers for taking an extra second or two to put their empty plastic bottles in the recycle bin,” said Joe Doss, IBWA president and CEO.

Light-weighting, or using less plastic in the production of the bottles, has also continued to increase, the organization said.

“These are clear signs of improvement but far more needs to be done with all plastic products and containers,” Doss said. “Empty water bottles comprise only 1/3 of 1% of the U.S. waste stream, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So even if bottled water containers were to hit a 100% recycle rate, there would still be far too many plastic containers of all kinds in the landfills unless more is done.”

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Amanda Smith-Teutsch at 330-865-6166 or asmith-teutsch@crain.com

This release has been provided by Breck Speed, CEO and President, Mountain Valley Spring Co. If you would like to be added to Breck’s regular Press Release distribution list, feel free to contact him as follows: Breck Speed, bspeed@mountainvalleyspring.com, office 501-624-1635.

EBWA changes its name to ‘WE’
Bill Bruce17 Apr 2011

EBWA, the European Bottled Watercooler Association, has changed its name to ‘Watercoolers Europe’.

‘WE’ will lead the water cooler industry by promoting high quality standards and enhancing our members’ brand.EBWA/ WE chairman Jeroen Peters

EBWA’s journey to ‘WE’

EBWA was established in Europe in 1993 as the European chapter of the International Bottled Water Association based in the United States. The establishment of the Brussels office in 1998 was the first turning point for the European industry and for the association.

At that time, the association’s activities were directed at easing the restrictive regulations which impacted bottling in 19 and 22 litres for companies and suppliers active in the emerging bottled watercooler markets.

Another step EBWA’s development took place in June 2000 when it became a founding member of ICBWA – International Council of Bottled Water Associations – consisting of member associations in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America and United States.

While direct company membership was the tradition, in 2000 the association changed its structure to become an association of associations – co- ordinating the formation in each country of a national association. This restructuring is keeping up with the representational structure required of regulatory policy- making bodies in Brussels.

When the European industry began, the market for watercoolers showed the dynamism of mostly young and small start- up enterprises. In recent years most Western European markets have matured, there has been an increased acceptance of coolers in Eastern Europe and new requirements for alternative solutions such as POU.

So far EBWA has focused its activities on laws and regulations governing the industry, being able to serve as the authoritative source of information concerning watercoolers at country level as well as in Brussels. EBWA created and promoted the highest standards of quality and hygiene through self- regulatory instruments including the Codes of Good Hygiene Practice and a large number of training courses for its members. The yearly Trade Fairs organized by EBWA were, and remain, the meeting places for the industry.

In recent years it became clear to EBWA that its members need to follow the changing of the markets, particularly in Western Europe. And EBWA reacted rapidly, supporting the process of integrating Point of Use into its associations according to the market requirements.

Watercoolers Europe

On 25 October, at the General Meeting in Prague, it was decided to change the name of EBWA to ‘WE’ – Watercoolers Europe. The process of finding a logo for the new self explaining name was finalised at the Annual General Meeting on 12 April in Paris.

The association’s vision is: ‘WE’ will lead the water cooler industry by promoting high quality standards and enhancing our members’ brand.

WE chairman Jeroen Peters said: “At the Annual General Meeting on the 12 of April in Paris ‘WE’ started the journey towards a more open and dynamic organisation. But what does this mean for our members? It is too early to reveal all our plans, but you can be assured you will see ‘WE’ more often. ‘WE’ is now working on a new website and this website will be our key communication pillar. Our members will get relevant updates, access to unlimited knowledge databases, webinars, forums and much more. This means for our National Association members they will have access to data that allows them to keep the high standards, to deal with legislative issues, to promote the key benefit of our industry (healthy hydration) and to be able to ask for support when needed.

“For our supplier members ‘WE’ will offer different membership levels and different kind of advantages. ‘WE’ is very aware that suppliers have been relevant in supporting our organisation in the last years and by executing our vision ‘WE’ will provide added value for them in return.

“‘WE’ will acquire new members, ‘WE’ will build new national organisations and ‘WE’ will fight obesity with the best weapon, namely our product: water.

“‘WE’ is looking forward to meet you.

Source: EBWA/ WE

This release has been provided by Breck Speed, CEO and President, Mountain Valley Spring Co. If you would like to be added to Breck’s regular Press Release distribution list, feel free to contact him as follows: Breck Speed, bspeed@mountainvalleyspring.com, office 501-624-1635.

Winn Dixie sells beverage facility

Jacksonville Business Journal – by Christian Conte

Date: Thursday, April 28, 2011, 12:22pm EDT

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. has completed the disposition of its non-core assets with the sale of its Deep South beverage manufacturing facility, according to a company press release.

Soft drink bottler Polar Beverages of Worchester, Mass. is acquiring the facility in Fitzgerald, Ga. in the center of the state effective April 29. Polar Beverages will continue manufacturing Winn-Dixie’s Chek brand soft drinks as part of a five-year contract.

There will be minimal change to existing employees or their wages and benefits, the press release stated. The 100 employees of the facility will become employees of Polar Beverages.

The facility is 200,000 square feet and 61 different varieties of soft drink are bottled there. Winn-Dixie (Nasdaq: WINN), based in Jacksonville, operates 484 retail grocery stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi.

Winn-Dixie began the strategy to dispose of non-core businesses in 2005, the same year the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Winn-Dixie emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2006 and has since embarked on a system-wide store remodeling program.

This release has been provided by Breck Speed, CEO and President, Mountain Valley Spring Co. If you would like to be added to Breck’s regular Press Release distribution list, feel free to contact him as follows: Breck Speed, bspeed@mountainvalleyspring.com, office 501-624-1635.

Nestlé’s North American bottled water operation has hired Michael Washburn as director of sustainability.

In his new role, Washburn will lead Nestlé Waters’ efforts to increase recycling rates in the United States, innovate in energy use and building design and advocate for constructive water policies.

Nestlé Waters sells 15 brands of bottled water, including Perrier, Deer Park and Poland Spring.

Washburn recently held a senior position at The Wilderness Society, a public lands advocacy organization. He also served as vice president of brand management for the Forest Stewardship Council, where he advanced the adoption of independent forest-certification and product labeling programs.

Washburn spent over 15 years working in conservation roles at non-profits and universities, with a focus on sustainable forestry and land conservation. He holds a Ph.D. in forest policy from Penn State University.

“I’m eager to put my resource management and conservation experience to work for Nestlé Waters,” Washburn said. “I feel strongly that bottled water brings value to society, and I am looking forward to continued engagement with a wide range of stakeholders around water advocacy, energy use, waste and recycling approaches, such as Extended Producer Responsibility.”

Also on the HR front, Dell’s executive director of sustainable business, Mark Newton, is leaving the company after eight years.

Danone May Make Small Nutrition, Water Acquisitions, CFO Says

By Tom Mulier - Feb 15, 2011

Danone, the world’s biggest yogurt maker, may purchase smaller companies to expand in medical nutrition and water, Chief Financial Officer Pierre-Andre Terisse said.

“There may be some acquisitions” in medical nutrition, he said in an interview in Paris after the company reported an 18 percent increase in 2010 profit. The bulk of the unit’s growth will come from existing businesses.

Danone also might make a “small” purchase in bottled water, Terisse said. The Evian bottler may expand existing water brands into new markets as it did by introducing the Mexican Bonafont brand to Brazil.

The French maker of Activia yogurt got 6 percent of its sales last year from medical nutrition and 17 percent from bottled water. Danone is also planning to add fresh fruit products to its ranges as part of a joint venture with Chiquita Brands International Inc., Terisse said.

“We think a bit wider than the pure use of milk or the pure use of water,” the CFO said, adding that Danone has introduced flavored waters and an energy drink in Asia called Mizone. Danone and Chiquita are testing the fruit products in Belgium and soon will start a trial inGermany, he said.

Danone might also start selling other products linked to Qua, an Indian water brand the company recently acquired that bottles water from the Himalayas, Terisse said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Mulier in Geneva at tmulier@bloomberg.net.

Toxic Rocket Fuel Chemical Tap Water in America – Pass the Ozarka Bottled Water

Why is a toxic rocket fuel chemical in tap water in America? The Environmental Protection Agency is setting out to make a first federal drinking water standard. According to the Obama administration, the rocket fuel chemical in tap water is linked to thyroid problems in pregnant women and young children.

Why is rocket fuel in the tap water at all? Why does it take the EPA to get this toxic chemical out of the tap water?

Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator, explained that the organization is working to set a new standard in public health regarding drinking water. The EPA desires new technologies to be created that would clean up the tap water in America. Unfortunately, it could take up to two years before the rocket fuel chemical is removed from the tap water.

Monitored testing from 2001 to 2005 showed that “153 drinking water sources in 26 states contain Perchlorate.” The rocket fuel chemical is found in explosives and fireworks. What caused this toxic chemical to get into the nation’s tap water? The EPA explained that the contamination was “caused by improper disposal at rocket testing sites, military bases and chemical plants.”

Jackson spoke about the toxic rocket fuel chemical in America’s tap water. She said, “As improved standards are developed and put in place… clean water technology innovators have an opportunity to create cutting edge solutions that will strengthen health protections and spark economic growth.”

Jackson will appear before a Senate panel today to state the EPA’s case in regards to the per chlorate in the tap water. She is expected to get opposition from “Republicans who plan to take on the EPA over air pollution regulations, controls on the gases blamed for global warming, and other regulations.”

What do you think about this rocket fuel chemical being found in our tap water? Do you think that after Americans learn about this dangerous fuel that bottled water sales will increase greatly? Pass the Ozarka bottled water.

Tap Water Not the Best for Breadmaking

by Heloise, Texarkana Gazette (published 02/02/2011)

Dear Heloise: I would like to give you this little hint: Never use tap water to make bread. The chemicals kill the action of the yeast. Use only bottled water.–Marlene E., via e-mail

You need to know what is in your tap water to be the most successful when baking bread. Many cooks do use distilled water or bottled water when baking from scratch. It can’t hurt!—Heloise

Expert: Public needs education on sustainability

by Mike Verespej (Published January 10, 2011)

Much of the focus in plastics packaging — and rightly so — has been on shrinking the weight and size of the package, and lowering a package’s total environmental footprint. But changing a consumer’s perception that plastics are bad may be one of the largest challenges companies face in their sustainability journey.

“Most consumers know less than you might think they do,” said Suzanne Shelton, president and CEO of Shelton Group Inc., an advertising agency in Knoxville, Tenn., that focuses on motivating consumers to make sustainable choices and helps companies develop green marketing campaigns.

Indeed, according to Shelton Group surveys, 69 percent of consumers equate green with environmentally friendly, 50 percent define green as something that is recycled or recyclable, and another 40 percent view something as green because it’s energy-efficient.

“The consumer knows just enough to get them through a cocktail party,” said Shelton, the kickoff speaker at the Sustainable Plastics Packaging 2010 conference, held in Atlanta. The December event was organized by Plastics News Global Group.

Consumers have “a broad definition”  of what green means, she said.  “You’d be surprised at the number of consumers that look ashen-faced when you tell them that not everything plastics is recyclable,” Shelton said. “They don’t understand how the system works and are giving themselves credit for being greener than they are just because they throw everything in the trash and think it is recyclable.”

Similarly, she said, consumers are concerned about potential health hazards from chemicals used to make plastic products and those in health and beauty products. But they don’t really know what chemicals are hazardous and what products contain potentially hazardous chemicals.

For example, only 22.5 percent identified polycarbonate as a potential candidate for leaching bisphenol A. Nearly 60 percent weren’t sure what products BPA could leach from, while 28 percent said polyethylene plastics leach BPA, 23 percent said polypropylene could do so, and 9 percent said aluminum cans coated with water-based epoxy could leach BPA.

In a similar fashion, 15 percent identified glycerin as a harmful ingredient in skin-care products, 11 percent cited lanolin as a harmful ingredient and 22 percent thought phthalates could be found in skin-care products.

“There is confusion and a lack of knowledge,” said Shelton. “It’s up to you to wake them up.”  But she advised companies to “keep it simple and don’t use jargon.”

“Highlight a single issue, do it in a light entertaining way and give them a simple plan of action,” said Shelton. “They’re confused because there is so much information for them to digest, they don’t know what the right choice is.”

She said companies should tailor their sustainability messages to a specific category and give the consumer a specific reason to buy the product and “believe your claim.”

“You need the line of copy that tells the consumer what the benefit is to them,” she said.  For example, with a BPA-free product, she suggested that companies might say that the product is “better for your family” or that it has “no harmful chemicals.” She also cited the use of the word ‘organic’ as an example of how consumers are confused about labeling and claims on packaging.  “Organic doesn’t buy [a company] anything because consumers don’t understand it,” said Shelton. She pointed to her recent survey results that found 42 percent of consumers thought a food product could be organic, but not sustainable; and nearly 50 percent weren’t sure if that was the case. “Consumers don’t understand that the use of the word ‘organics’ on food is regulated. They think you’re screwing them.”

She also stressed the importance of getting the message right on the packaging because “94 percent of consumers think you are lying to sell them something.”

“It is really important that you get the message right and avoid jargon,” she said “The way ingredient claims and sustainability claims are worded on packages is critical. Chemical names don’t mean anything to consumers and terms like ‘low VOCs’ are lost on them.

“The consumer is reading the package to make an informed buying decision and too often you are throwing jargon at them,” Shelton said. “You must make the message clear because what the package says is critical to a consumer’s decision to buy.”   The critical message varies by product category, but, in general, the most important phrases to consumers are ‘recyclable,’ followed by ‘biodegradable’ and then ‘recycled content,’ she said.

“In non-food products, ‘recycled content’ and ‘safety’ seem to be the words that work best,” said Shelton, as 39.8 percent pointed to recycled content, 35.9 percent focused on whether a package says that it contains no potentially toxic chemicals and 30.3 percent want to know if a non-food item is healthy and safe.

“Recycling always matters,” she said. “But packaging as a green attribute only matters in some categories.”

She also said that in the U.S., larger is what wins more often when it comes to recycled content.

“The consumer has no idea that packaging’s real job is to protect the product, and the American way is that 100 percent is better than 10 percent,” said Shelton. “So if the tiebreaker in a category is recycled content, larger wins. So you have to be better, faster, sexier and smarter” than your competition.

Apple Announces Apple Water!

Cupertino, CA — Step aside, Perrier. Prepare for oblivion, Poland Spring. After steamrolling the music player, smartphone and tablet markets, Apple is out to disrupt a whole new category.

Today Apple announced Apple Water — a cool refreshment made for those willing to suspend all logic and pay the price for Apple’s lavish attention to quality and design.

“If you’ve been drinking the juice, you’re ready to drink the water,” proclaims Apple’s website.

Like iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple Water is part of a closed ecosystem. By breaking the seal, you accept a User Agreement that prohibits refilling the container with tap water, spring water or any unauthorized third-party water.

Power users can quench their thirst with Apple Water Pro

“We’ve heard people say ‘there must be something in the water over there,’” said Apple spokesperson Lindsay Grebner, “and there is. We’re happy to share our water with fans all over the world.”

Apple Water is indeed an Apple-lover’s dream — pure, clean H2O, captured in Apple-designed containers from the central irrigation spigot at Apple’s corporate headquarters.

AAPL stock soared on the announcement today. Analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray raised his target price to $500, noting the low cost of materials and customers “endless thirst and inscrutable need” for all things Apple. “Apple Water,” says Munster, “is somewhere between tap water and holy water.”

A 16-ounce container of Apple Water retails for $9.99. Apple Water Pro, a five-gallon jug, is only $49.99.