Nestle and Disputes over a Natural Resource

You may know Nestle from the delicious homemade cookies that you may or may not have made as a child.  For me making Nestle Toll House Cookies are some of my fondest memories that I have as a child. Yet there is something else that Nestle is known for and that is water. Nestle is the owner of such brands as Perrier, Poland Springs, Arrowhead, and Nestles’ own brand Nestle Pure Life. As of late Nestle has been in the spotlight concerning its bottled water operations. Of most note is the story concerning Nestles’ chairman and former CEO Peter Brabeck Letmathe purported statement that water is not a basic human right during a documentary in 2005, a statement which he claims has been taken out of context. Mr. Letmathe claims his statement was to address over-consumption by some while others suffered from lack of water and further that his remarks were taken out of context by the documentary. That being said this was not the last time that Nestles‘ water operations have reached the headlines. In a dispute that began in 2012 and continues today, according to various news sources such as Aljazeera America Nestle has come under fire during a battle for water rights in Fryeburg Maine. This dispute has claimed the positions of several public servants serving in Fryeburg. As well as disputes in drought stricken California where under the well-known bottled water company Arrowhead Nestles’ practices are coming under fire as a parched California is looking for ways to provide for its ever growing populations. No matter what your feelings about Nestle as a company, these stories are a signal, a signal that water is becoming a scarcer and scarcer resource, a resource that now more than ever is garnishing the attention of major news sources. We as a society need to pay attention.