FRANCE – Danone, the world’s third-largest water bottled company, has unveiled its plan for modernization and investment in its Evian-Les-Bains plant by 2020 with an investment plan worth US$280million dollars.
The new bottling site, Evian, will meet the high global standards; will be more sustainable and efficient as a new illustration of the brand’s commitment to sustainability.
Danone CEO, Emmanuel Faber, told Reuters that Evian sales would increase the growth at double digits rates in the United States as more consumers opt for healthier diets.
“The growth of Evian will stay solid in 2017. Evian remains very strong in the United States and is also doing well in France and in Europe,” Faber said on Tuesday.
Danone produces a range of bottled waters, but Evian is its most popular brand. In 2016, it grew by 8%, beating the 6% growth of its global market and the 2.9% of Danone’s water divisions overall.
Faber said: “Faithful to its pioneering spirit and working closely with all local stakeholders in its natural water cycle upstream, its labour pool, and its logistics network downstream, Evian has transformed its bottling site, now certified as carbon neutral by the Carbon Trust, that I am very proud to inaugurate it today.
“This achievement combines a unique workplace organization, a shift to digital technology, and technologies and sustainability solutions at the cutting edge of our sector worldwide—bringing together everything we need to support the brand’s development while preserving the natural resources we cherish and continuing to develop the local economy,” said Emmanuel Faber.”
The site’s new production lines are capable of producing 72,000 bottles per hour, all which are 100 per cent recyclable.
The plant will be able to transport almost 60 per cent of its bottles by train.
