Who Owns the Bottled Water Industry

The water you buy in a bottle is rarely owned by who you think. Evian is French, but it belongs to a French dairy company. Poland Spring is from Maine, but it was sold to private equity in 2021. Dasani comes from your local tap.

Bottled water is the world's most consumed packaged beverage by volume, and its ownership structure is a mix of global food conglomerates, private equity buyers, and a handful of genuine independents. The landscape shifted substantially in 2021 when Nestlé sold most of its North American water brands to a private equity consortium, creating a new standalone company called BlueTriton Brands.

This post maps who owns the major bottled water brands globally, covers recent ownership changes, and explains why this market is more complex than the labels suggest. For a related look at beverage industry concentration, see our post on who owns the juice market.

The Big Picture: Major Ownership Groups

Nestlé Waters and the BlueTriton Split

Nestlé was for decades the world's largest bottled water company, owning Poland Spring, Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Arrowhead, Ozarka, Zephyrhills, Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier, and San Pellegrino, among others.

In 2021, Nestlé sold its North American water brands (Poland Spring, Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Arrowhead, Ozarka, Zephyrhills, and Nestlé Pure Life in the US and Canada) to One Rock Capital Partners and Metropoulos & Co. for approximately $4.3 billion. The new company was named BlueTriton Brands.

• [Perrier](/brands/perrier): France's iconic carbonated mineral water, acquired by Nestlé in 1992. Sold in more than 140 countries, it is the most recognized sparkling water brand globally.
• [San Pellegrino](/brands/san-pellegrino): Italy's premium sparkling water brand, acquired by Nestlé in 1997. San Pellegrino and its still companion Acqua Panna are fixtures on restaurant tables globally and the global leaders in premium sparkling water.
• Acqua Panna: Nestlé's still premium Italian spring water.
• Nestlé Pure Life (international, outside North America): The largest water brand in the world by volume in markets including Pakistan, China, and the Middle East.

BlueTriton Brands (formerly Nestlé Water North America): BlueTriton, owned by One Rock Capital Partners, operates Poland Spring, Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Arrowhead, Ozarka, Zephyrhills, Nestlé Pure Life (US), and Splash. BlueTriton has been at the center of water rights controversies in Maine and California, where communities have challenged its extraction permits amid drought conditions.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) entered the bottled water category in 1999 with the launch of Dasani, a purified tap water product. It has since built a diversified water portfolio covering still, sparkling, and enhanced water categories.

[Dasani](/brands/dasani) is produced by filtering municipal tap water and adding mineral salts. It is one of the most widely distributed water brands in the United States, carried by Coca-Cola's retail distribution network. The product sold in Atlanta comes from Atlanta tap water. The product sold in London comes from London tap water. Both are filtered, treated, and mineral-supplemented before bottling.

[Smartwater](/brands/smartwater) is Coca-Cola's premium still water brand, positioned around vapor-distilled purification and electrolyte content. Coca-Cola acquired Smartwater through its 2007 purchase of Energy Brands for approximately $4.1 billion. The brand has run long-term celebrity campaigns featuring Jennifer Aniston and targets the premium electrolyte water segment.

Topo Chico is a Mexican mineral water brand that Coca-Cola acquired in 2017 for approximately $220 million. It has a strong following in Texas and the Southwest and has grown nationally since the acquisition.

[Vitamin Water](/brands/vitaminwater) is Coca-Cola's enhanced water brand, also acquired through the 2007 Energy Brands deal. It competes in the functional water segment with flavored and vitamin-fortified formulations.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) entered bottled water with Aquafina in 1994, making it one of the first major soda companies to build a filtered tap water brand.

[Aquafina](/brands/aquafina) is filtered from municipal tap water sources, like Dasani. It is one of the top-selling still water brands in the United States, competing directly with Dasani in the mass market. Aquafina uses PepsiCo's PURE purification system.

Bubly is PepsiCo's sparkling water brand, launched in 2018 to compete with La Croix. It grew rapidly and is now among the top-selling sparkling water brands in the United States.

LIFEWTR is PepsiCo's premium still water brand, launched in 2017, with rotating label designs by emerging artists as a positioning device.

SodaStream is PepsiCo's home carbonation system, acquired for approximately $3.2 billion in 2018. SodaStream allows consumers to carbonate tap water at home and sits adjacent to the bottled sparkling water category.

Danone

Danone (Euronext: BN) is the world's largest spring water company by volume through its Waters division, which owns several of the most recognized natural mineral water brands globally.

[Evian](/brands/evian) is Danone's flagship natural mineral water, sourced from the French Alps. Danone acquired control of Evian in 1970. The brand is distributed globally and is positioned as natural alpine mineral water with a distinctive mineral composition.

[Volvic](/brands/volvic) is Danone's volcanic spring water from Auvergne, France, positioned as a lighter, lower-mineral still water for daily consumption.

[Badoit](/brands/badoit) is Danone's French naturally sparkling mineral water, sold primarily in France and neighboring markets.

Danone's Waters division faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 period and the company explored strategic options for the unit. As of early 2026, the Waters division remains part of Danone.

Regional and Independent Players

La Croix (National Beverage Corp.): La Croix is the brand that ignited the US sparkling water category in the mid-2010s. It is owned by National Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: FIZZ), a focused beverage company based in Fort Lauderdale. La Croix grew from a regional Midwest brand into a national cultural phenomenon and is now one of the most studied brand revitalization cases of the past decade.

Fiji Water (The Wonderful Company): Fiji Water is a premium still water sourced from an artesian aquifer in Fiji. It is owned by The Wonderful Company, the private holding company of Lynda and Stewart Resnick, which also owns POM Wonderful, Wonderful Pistachios, and JUSTIN Vineyards.

Core Hydration (Keurig Dr Pepper): Core is an alkaline water brand acquired by Keurig Dr Pepper in 2018. It competes in the pH-balanced water segment.

Liquid Death (independent): Liquid Death is a canned mountain water brand built around heavy metal and skateboard culture marketing. Founded in 2019, it raised significant venture funding and reached a valuation exceeding $1 billion in 2023. It remains independent as of early 2026.

Market Share Overview

The Water Ownership Controversy

The privatization of water resources is an ongoing controversy tied directly to bottled water brand ownership. Poland Spring (now BlueTriton) has faced municipal and regulatory challenges in Maine over groundwater extraction volumes. Nestlé faced similar challenges in California and with Indigenous communities in Canada before it sold those brands.

The sale of Nestlé's North American brands to private equity intensified concerns. Critics argued that a private equity owner with less public accountability and a shorter investment horizon would be more aggressive in extraction than Nestlé, which at least had a consumer-facing brand reputation to protect.

The environmental impact of single-use plastic is a separate, equally serious issue. Most major brands have committed to increasing recycled content and reducing packaging. Single-use PET plastic bottles remain a major contributor to global plastic waste regardless of those commitments.

We track multiple bottled water brands in our database and have noted that the ownership split between Nestlé (keeping European premium brands) and BlueTriton (North American volume brands) reflects a deliberate strategic separation: Nestlé is positioning itself as a premium food and beverage company, not a volume water company.

FAQ

Did Nestlé sell Poland Spring?

Yes. In 2021, Nestlé sold Poland Spring, Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Arrowhead, Ozarka, Zephyrhills, and Nestlé Pure Life (North America) to One Rock Capital Partners for approximately $4.3 billion. The acquiring entity was rebranded as BlueTriton Brands.

Is Evian owned by Nestlé?

No. Evian is owned by Danone. Nestlé owns Perrier and San Pellegrino. All three are major European mineral water brands, but they belong to different companies. This is a common point of confusion.

Is Dasani just filtered tap water?

Yes. Dasani and Aquafina both start with local municipal tap water, filter it through reverse osmosis and other purification processes, and add mineral salts to standardize the taste. This is disclosed on product labels. They are distinct from spring or mineral water products like Evian or Poland Spring, which come from natural sources.

Explore Related Brands

• Perrier - Nestlé's French sparkling mineral water, the world's most recognized sparkling water brand
• Evian - Danone's premium still mineral water from the French Alps
• Dasani - Coca-Cola's purified still water brand, distributed globally
• Aquafina - PepsiCo's purified water brand, one of the top-selling US waters
• Smartwater - Coca-Cola's vapor-distilled premium water brand
• Who Owns the Juice Market - How Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper control juice

Browse all food and beverage brands

Sources

1. Nestlé: BlueTriton Brands sale announcement, 2021. nestle.com 2. Coca-Cola Annual Report 2024. investors.coca-colacompany.com 3. PepsiCo Annual Report 2024. pepsico.com/investors 4. Danone Annual Report 2024. danone.com/investors 5. Bloomberg: Nestlé water brands sale to BlueTriton. bloomberg.com 6. International Bottled Water Association Market Report 2024. bottledwater.org 7. Forbes: Liquid Death valuation 2023. forbes.com

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com research methodology. Last updated: March 2026.