Nestlé has not enjoyed its water business for a long time.
Now the food giant is stopping Lidl from selling one of its best-known products.
Frankfurt - A turning point is imminent at Lidl.
From November onwards, customers will no longer find Vittel brand water in the discounter's shops.
That reports the
Manager Magazin
.
The reason for this is apparently not a dispute about delivery conditions this time, as has happened many times in the past.
Because the supply contract between Lidl and the Vittel manufacturer Nestlé, which ran until the end of October, was not extended by mutual agreement.
A Nestlé spokeswoman did not want to give the magazine any specific information about how it will proceed with the other Vittel sales partners.
Nestlé stops selling Vittel at Lidl: the watermark received a negative from Deutsche Umwelthilfe
The delivery stop at Lidl is apparently part of a withdrawal by Nestlé from the water business, with which the Swiss have not had much fun in recent years.
Because it is heavily criticized by environmental groups.
The German Environmental Aid (DUH) awarded Vittel the negative Golden Vulture Award in 2019.
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Nestlé will stop selling its Vittel water brand at Lidl at the end of October
© Manfred Segerer / imago
The filling of the water in plastic one-way bottles and the long transport routes were criticized.
Because Vittel comes from the town of the same name in the French Vosges.
The fact that most Vittel bottle sizes now consist of 100 percent recycled PET has not changed the declining popularity of PET bottles.
Nestlé stops Vittel sales at Lidl: bottlers are said to be responsible for sinking groundwater levels
Nestlé is under particular pressure in the case of Vittel.
According to
Manager Magazin
, Nestlé has permission from the authorities to fill plastic bottles with up to one million cubic meters of water.
But the water abstraction should lower the groundwater level of the village, and that by 30 centimeters annually.
To ensure that there is enough water for production, a pipeline should even be built to supply the residents with water from the surrounding regions.
But the project was canceled again.
In addition, a large number of old and rotten Vittel plastic bottles were found in the vicinity of the small town.
According to Nestlé, the renovation has now started at five locations.
Nestlé stops Vittel sales at Lidl: Company withdraws from water business worldwide
The move shouldn't have been too difficult for Nestlé.
Because the departure from Lidl fits in with the strategy of the Swiss group of withdrawing from the global water business.
In 2020, Nestlé sold the water business in China.
In late March 2021, the North American regional spring water brands, the purified bottled water business and the beverage delivery services were sold.
According to information from the
Handelsblatt,
the
water division is
the group’s weakest in terms of earnings.
In the first half of the year, their operating profit margin was 8.9 percent, and 17.4 percent for the entire group.
Most recently, water contributed five percent to sales.
