Evian

History

Evian first became a public company in 1859 as the "Société anonyme des eaux minérales de Cachat" and a year later it became French when Savoy was incorporated into France under the Treaty of Turin. The French Ministry of Health reauthorized the bottling of Cachat water on the recommendation of the Medicine Academy in 1878. In 1908, Evian water began to be sold in glass bottles manufactured by the glass factory Souchon-Neuvesel, which today is a part of Owens-Illinois. The first PVC bottle was launched in 1969.

During the following year, the BSN Group, which eventually became the Danone Group, took 100% control of the Évian brand. Evian entered the U.S. market in 1978. In 1995, Evian switched to collapsible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

Production

Evian's site in the French Alps was, during 2015, the largest carbon-neutral food and beverage production site in France.{{cite web | access-date = 19 May 2021}}

Public perception, marketing and advertising

Evian has sought to portray itself as popular among Hollywood celebrities.{{cite news |archive-date=5 January 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105035824/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34036-2005Jan24.html |access-date= |archive-date=2021-05-14 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210514175808/https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/christian-lacroix-evian-unite-encore-anniversary-bottles-10519258/ |access-date=2021-04-22

Evian worked with Virgin Records and EMI in 1998 for the mix album Club Nation. The album featured many advertisements for Évian, including a logo on the cover, six full pages in the booklet, the image of a bottle of Évian on CD1 and a crushed bottle of Évian on CD2.

In 2009, Evian launched the advertisement campaign, "Evian Roller Babies". The campaign won a Gold Award at the London International Awards 2009 for Best Visual Effects.{{cite web |archive-url = https://archive.today/20210514174433/https://www.awn.com/news/evian-wins-gold-award-best-visual-effects |archive-date = 2021-05-14 |access-date = 2020-08-25 |url-status = live

Evian brand ambassadors include singer Dua Lipa and tennis player Emma Raducanu.

In 2023, Evian collaborated with Balmain for a high fashion collection entitled, “Balmain X Evian”.

Environmentalism

In April 2008, Evian created the Evian Water Protection Institute to work on three water and wetlands management projects with the Ramsar Convention. The three areas where the projects will take place are Thailand's Bung Khong, the La Plata Basin in Argentina and the Jagdishpur Reservoir in Nepal.{{cite web |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130124224011/http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/04/24/evian-plans-wetlands-preservation-adds-recycled-plastic-bottles |archive-date = 24 January 2013 |url-status = live |access-date = April 29, 2008 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120722101950/http://www.bevnet.com/news/2008/4-18-2008-Evian.asp |archive-date = 22 July 2012 |url-status = live |access-date = April 30, 2008

During 2018, Evian announced that it would make all of its plastic bottles from 100% recycled plastic by 2025.{{Cite news |archive-date=2021-05-14 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210514180138/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180118005342/en/evian%C2%AE-Transforms-Approach-Plastic-100-Circular-Brand |access-date=2018-01-18

During April 2020, Evian claimed to have achieved carbon neutrality.{{cite web | access-date = 19 May 2021}} In October 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiff Stephanie Dorris on behalf of consumers of Evian water, alleging that the claim of carbon neutrality was false and misleading. In January 2024, US District Judge Nelson S. Román ruled that the class action lawsuit could proceed, calling carbon neutral an ambiguous term that may reasonably confuse consumers and saying that Danone "expects too much" for consumers to learn what the term means from Evian labels. In response, lawyers for Danone argued that it is unreasonable for consumers to assume that the product "magically arrived from the French Alps to their homes without the emission of even a molecule of carbon dioxide."

References

References

1. Gaines, Melinda. "Facts about Evian".
2. {{cite LPD. 3
3. Qureshi, Waqas. (2014-06-20). "Evian churns out six million bottles daily while reducing carbon footprint".
4. (12 August 2020). "Dua Lipa Joins Evian as Global Brand Ambassador".
5. (10 December 2021). "Emma Raducanu named Evian global brand ambassador".
6. "Balmain x Evian | BALMAIN".
7. Rizzi, Corrado. (2022-10-17). "Class Action Claims Evian Water Manufacturing Process Is Not as 'Carbon Neutral' as Advertised".
8. (2024-01-18). "Danone faces legal complaint over claim that Evian water is carbon neutral".
9. Stempel, Jonathan. (2024-01-10). "Danone Must Face Evian Water 'Carbon Neutral' Lawsuit". [[U.S. News & World Report]].
10. (2024-02-07). "Court Finds 'Carbon Neutral' Claim May Be Misleading, Permits Class Action to Proceed".