page_title: Perrier
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Perrier / History
caption_attribution_description: can of parrier sparkling water (front(
context_page_description: Perrier is a French brand of natural bottled mineral water captured at the source in Vergèze, located in the Gard département. Perrier is best known for its naturally occurring carbonation, distinctive green bottle, and higher levels of carbonation than its peers.
  Perrier was part of the Perrier Vittel Group SA, which became Nestlé Waters France after the acquisition of the company by Nestlé in 1992. Nestlé Waters France also includes Vittel, S.Pellegrino and Contrex.
context_section_description: The spring in Southern France from which Perrier is drawn was originally known as Les Bouillens. It had been used as a spa since Roman times. Local doctor Louis Perrier bought the spring in 1898 and operated a commercial spa there; he also bottled the water for sale. He later sold the spring to St John Harmsworth, a wealthy British visitor. Harmsworth was the younger brother of the newspaper magnates Lord Northcliffe and Lord Rothermere. He had come to France to learn the language. Dr. Perrier showed him the spring, and he decided to buy it. He sold his share of the family newspapers to raise the money. Harmsworth closed the spa, as spas were becoming unfashionable. He renamed the spring Source Perrier and started bottling the water in distinctive green bottles. The shape was that of the Indian clubs which Harmsworth used for exercise.
  Harmsworth marketed the product in Britain at a time when Frenchness was seen as chic and aspirational to the middle classes. It was advertised as the Champagne of mineral water. (There are champagne houses by the name of Laurent-Perrier and Perrier-Jouët, but there is no connection.) Advertising in newspapers like the Daily Mail established the brand. For a time, 95% of sales were in Britain and the U.S.
  Perrier's reputation for purity suffered a blow in 1990 when a laboratory in North Carolina in the United States found benzene, a carcinogen, in several bottles. Perrier stated that it was an isolated incident of a worker having made a mistake in filtering and that the spring itself was unpolluted. The incident ultimately led to the worldwide withdrawal of the product, some 160 million bottles of Perrier.
  Two years later in 1992, Perrier was bought by Nestlé, one of the world's leading food and drink companies. Nestlé had to contend with competition from the Agnelli family for ownership of the business.
  From 1981 to 2005, the company sponsored an annual comedy award in the United Kingdom, the Perrier Comedy Award, also known as "The Perriers". In 2006 it was announced that Perrier would no longer sponsor the award, which was renamed the "if.comedy awards", after its new sponsor, Intelligent Finance.
  In 2004, a crisis erupted when Nestlé announced a restructuring plan for Perrier. The following year, Perrier was ordered to halt restructuring due to a failure to consult adequately with staff.
  In 2013, Perrier celebrated its 150th anniversary by launching a limited edition series of bottles inspired by Andy Warhol.
  In 2019, Perrier released Perrier ARTXTRA limited edition packaging featuring artwork of artist duo Dabsmyla  to help support the contemporary artist community.
caption: 250ml can of Perrier
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