Water Brand Ownership: Who Owns Evian, Fiji, Dasani, and Every Other Bottled Water?

The Most Branded Commodity on Earth

Water is free from the tap in most developed countries. Yet bottled water is a $350+ billion global industry, making it the world's most valuable beverage category, surpassing even carbonated soft drinks. In the United States alone, bottled water generates approximately $24 billion in annual retail sales.

The bottled water aisle creates an illusion of diversity. Fiji evokes tropical islands. Evian suggests French Alps purity. Dasani implies scientific purification. Voss channels Scandinavian minimalism. But most of these brands trace to a surprisingly small number of corporate parents.

The Complete Water Ownership Map

Danone (France) - Evian, Volvic

Danone S.A. (Euronext: BN), the French food and beverage multinational, is one of the world's two largest bottled water companies:

Evian, positioned as luxury water (served at high-end restaurants, partnered with fashion brands), shares a corporate parent with Activia yogurt, Aptamil baby formula, and Silk plant-based milk.

Nestle's Water Exit and BlueTriton

Nestle was historically the world's largest bottled water company but made the strategic decision to exit most of its North American water business in 2021, selling brands to One Rock Capital Partners (private equity) for approximately $4.3 billion. The new company is called BlueTriton Brands:

Brands Nestle kept:

Nestle retained its premium and sparkling water brands (S.Pellegrino, Perrier, Acqua Panna) while divesting the commodity spring water brands. This reflects Nestle's broader strategy of focusing on premium, higher-margin products.

Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Company is one of the world's largest water companies through:

The Dasani reality: Dasani is purified municipal tap water with added minerals for taste. Despite premium pricing, it starts as the same tap water available for free. The value proposition is convenience, branding, and the plastic bottle, not unique water source.

Smartwater is also purified tap water, but processed through vapor distillation and marketed as "premium" through celebrity partnerships and sleek bottle design.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo participates through:

Like Dasani, Aquafina is purified municipal water. PepsiCo was actually required to add "Public Water Source" to Aquafina's label after a 2007 campaign by advocacy groups.

Fiji Water (The Wonderful Company)

Owner: The Wonderful Company (private, Stewart and Lynda Resnick) Source: Viti Levu island, Fiji Revenue: ~$500 million estimated

• POM Wonderful (pomegranate juice)
• Wonderful Pistachios
• Wonderful Halos (mandarins)
• JUSTIN Vineyards (wine)
• Teleflora (flower delivery)

Fiji Water is sourced from an artesian aquifer in Fiji and shipped thousands of miles to markets worldwide, creating a significant carbon footprint that has drawn environmental criticism.

Other Notable Water Brands

The Liquid Death Phenomenon

Liquid Death deserves special mention as the most disruptive water brand in recent memory. Founded in 2019, the company sells mountain water in tall aluminum cans with heavy-metal-inspired branding. Despite (or because of) its irreverent marketing, Liquid Death reached approximately $260 million in annual revenue and a $1.4 billion valuation by 2024.

Liquid Death remains independently VC-backed but is widely expected to be an acquisition target for a major beverage company or to pursue an IPO.

Types of Bottled Water

Not all bottled water is the same, and the type significantly affects what you are actually buying:

The key distinction: Spring, mineral, and artesian waters come from specific natural sources. Purified water (Dasani, Aquafina, Pure Life) is essentially filtered tap water. Both are safe to drink, but the source and processing differ significantly despite similar retail pricing.

The Sparkling Water Segment

The sparkling water category has its own ownership dynamics:

LaCroix, the flavored sparkling water that sparked the sparkling water boom of the 2010s, is owned by National Beverage Corp., controlled by billionaire Nick Caporella. LaCroix's market share has declined significantly as Coca-Cola (Topo Chico, AHA) and PepsiCo (Bubly) entered the category.

The Environmental and Ethical Questions

Bottled water raises unique ownership-related concerns:

Water rights: Companies like BlueTriton (formerly Nestle Waters) have faced criticism for extracting spring water in communities experiencing drought. The question of whether corporations should profit from water, a basic necessity, is an ongoing ethical debate.

Plastic waste: The bottled water industry produces approximately 600 billion plastic bottles annually. Corporate owners face increasing pressure to transition to recycled and recyclable packaging.

Carbon footprint: Shipping water thousands of miles (Fiji from the South Pacific, Evian from the French Alps, Voss from Norway) has a significant environmental cost for what is essentially a commodity available locally.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dasani just tap water?

Yes. Dasani is purified municipal tap water with added minerals (magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, salt) for taste. Coca-Cola purifies the water through reverse osmosis before adding minerals and bottling it.

Who owns Fiji Water?

Fiji Water is owned by The Wonderful Company, a privately held American company controlled by Stewart and Lynda Resnick. The Wonderful Company also owns POM Wonderful, Wonderful Pistachios, and several other brands.

Did Nestle sell its water brands?

Nestle sold most of its North American water brands (Poland Spring, Deer Park, Arrowhead, Pure Life, and others) to One Rock Capital Partners in 2021. The brands now operate as BlueTriton Brands. Nestle kept its premium brands: S.Pellegrino, Perrier, and Acqua Panna.

Is bottled water safer than tap water?

In the United States, tap water is regulated by the EPA with stricter testing requirements than bottled water (regulated by the FDA). In most US municipalities, tap water meets or exceeds bottled water quality. Bottled water is primarily a convenience and taste product, not a safety necessity in developed countries.

The Bottom Line

Bottled water is the ultimate branded commodity. The same substance available virtually free from your kitchen tap generates $350+ billion in global sales through branding, packaging, and marketing. Understanding who owns the water brands on the shelf reveals that a handful of corporations (Danone, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, BlueTriton/PE) control most of the market, often selling purified tap water at premium prices alongside genuinely sourced spring and mineral waters.

Explore beverage brand ownership on WhoBrands or browse food and beverage brands.

Sources

1. Beverage Marketing Corporation. "Bottled Water Market Report." 2025. 2. Grand View Research. "Bottled Water Market Size." 2025. 3. Euromonitor. "Bottled Water: Global." 2025. 4. Nestle. "Water Strategy Update." 2021-2025.

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com's research methodology. Last updated: February 7, 2026.