Bottled water sales are skyrocketing, but backlash against the beverage is also brewing.
Mercé says that Nestlé plans to double down on dealing with plastic packaging and water sourcing responsibly.
But, that doesn’t mean the bottled-water industry is free from criticism.
Companies have been criticized for paying minimal fees to communities where they source water.
"The challenges, I think they are real," Fernando Mercé, the president and CEO of Nestlé Waters North America, said of the backlash against bottled water during Beverage Digest’s Future Smarts conference on Friday.
A game plan towards responsibility Jim Young/Reuters Mercé said that Nestlé is taking aggressive action on packaging, as backlash against the use of plastic is a growing concern across the beverage industry.
One part of Nestlé’s solution is to increasingly transition to using recycled plastic to make bottles.
Nestlé rolled out its first 100% rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) bottle earlier in 2018.
The Swiss company was also criticized that year for increasing the amount of water it was pumping from a source in Michigan, 120 miles from Flint, a city known for its water crisis.
Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola’s former CEO and current chairman — who is stepping down from the role in April 2019 — called on conference attendees to take action such as creating biodegradable bottles and collection systems.