John,

Wow. Nestlé is packing up shop and is quitting the bottled water industry
in Canada -- and there's a strong chance they could be about to do the
same in the U.S. and China!

Last month, Nestlé said that it is considering selling its water brands in
North America in 2021 because it’s not worth doing business there. Three
weeks later, Nestlé sold all its operations in Canada. And then just last
week, Nestlé said it might drop its brands in China as well.

And why is Nestlé quitting the water business worldwide? Because SumOfUs
members like you never gave up the fight against Nestlé all over the world
-- chipping in to its profits by increasing its lawyer fees, preventing
its permits from being approved and creating an ever-growing public
relations nightmare.

Our fight against Nestlé, and other water companies profiting off bottled
water, will continue until they are banned world wide. But before we go
back to fighting Nestlé to make sure it stops sucking the world's water
dry, we wanted to take a step back to celebrate some of the incredible
work you’ve done against Nestlé in the past 5 years -- leading to them
exit the Canadian market.

Here is a snapshot of some of the biggest moments against Nestlé in Canada
where it sold its operations, in the USA where you supported local groups
in Michigan, Oregon, Florida, and California, and in France where you
helped win a huge victory for the town of Vittel.

Canada

We were able to get Nestlé to sell its operations in Canada because we hit
the water giant time and time again at its biggest operations in British
Columbia and Ontario.

In one of our biggest Canadian petitions ever -- we had a win against
Nestlé and other industrial water users hours before delivering your
message with a giant mobile billboard. Because of your support, we got the
government of British Columbia to agree to revisit the amount of money
that Nestlé and other water users pay in the province. In this campaign,
we exposed that Nestlé paid only two dollars and twenty five cents for 100
million litres of water, which created a lasting PR nightmare for the
company.

[1]Giant mobile billboard with several generation of people celebrating

Celebrating with a giant billboard post petition delivery in Langley BC

Meanwhile, in Ontario, you stopped Nestlé from getting a new permit that
would allow it to pump 1.6 million litres a day from a community that
would be relying on that water for drinking, washing and cooking and made
Nestlé’s greed for our public water a political issue.

It's no wonder why Nestlé sold its operations in Canada -- you fought
against them every step of the way.

USA

Nestlé is also likely going to leave the US market because you fought back
against them in Oregon, Michigan, Florida, and California.

Perhaps our biggest win against Nestlé in the US was in Oregon -- when
SumOfUs members like you stopped Nestlé’s plans to pump fresh water out of
Cascade Locks, Oregon to bottle and sell for massive profits. You
supported local activists who fought Nestlé's plan for nine years leading
to this massive win in Oregon.

SumOfUs members also made a difference in the battle between Nestlé and
Michigan. When Nestlé tried to sue a tiny township government in Michigan,
you showed up chipping in over $50,000 US, preventing Osceola Township
from declaring bankruptcy, all for issuing a permit rejecting the bottled
water giant from taking more water from its watershed. The best part --
Osceola won their lawsuit!

We also participated in a floating protest to stop Nestlé from bottling
nearly two billion litres a year from the fragile Ginnie Springs in
Florida shortly after we delivered a petition of 350,000 names to regional
water officials -- and that put the brakes on Nestlé’s water grab.

[2]kayaks in beautiful river with people holding signs to protect santa fe
florida

Floating protest in Santa Fe, Florida hours after we delivered our
petition to local government officials.

In California, SumOfUs members have been a thorn in Nestlé's side. We've
called on the US Forest Service and then the California Water Board to
stop the water bottled giant from sucking the state dry, and will continue
our pressure until bottled water companies leave the Golden State.

France

When we found out that Nestlé was sucking 800 million liters of water each
year from the small town of Vittel, France -- we fought back. Thanks to
SumOfUs members like you who signed petitions, flooded consultations and
showed up to protest in Vittel, the locals won their first battle against
Nestlé. Last year the local government cancelled plans for a water
pipeline project that would have forced the townspeople to pay as much as
€30 million to let Nestlé drain all their water away.

[3]protest with 60 people holding sign in French to protect our water

SumOfUs in front of Nestlé bottling plant for World Water Day in 2019 in
Vittel, France.

---

Though Nestlé is leaving Canada and it seems it will leave the US and
China, the fight against corporations draining water to sell for huge
profits continues.

In Canada, we need to continue to fight against the new owners of Nestlé’s
operations until we can ban bottled water companies in the country for
good.

In the US, we need to work hard to make sure that Nestlé does follow
Canada’s lead, and continue to support our partners in Michigan,
California, Maine, and Florida to enact anti-water theft bills like in the
State of Washington to ensure that Nestlé, or any other bottled water
corporations, stop draining local aquifers to sell for massive profits.

And in France, China, Australia, and all over the world -- we need to
continue our fight against Nestlé and other water companies continues to
suck water to sell for massive profits.

We are a small team pitted against a multi billion dollar bottled water
industry. And we have been able to fight back against Nestlé all because
of members like you.

[ [link removed] ]Would you consider chipping in for a monthly donation so we can keep up
the fight against Nestlé and other bottled companies for years to come?



Thanks for all that you do,
Angus, Amelia, Fatah, Nick, and the team at SumOfUs


More information:

[ [link removed] ]Environmentalists cheer as Nestle sells Canadian water business.
Toronto Star, July 2nd, 2020.
[ [link removed] ]Nestlé Explores Sale of Majority of North American Water Brands. Wall
Street Journal, June 11, 2020
[ [link removed] ]Nestlé could shed some of its local brands in China. CNN, July 21, 2020

 

 

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]