WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

15.2 Water-Bottling Giants
Coca Cola Company
The Coca Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company and one
of the biggest corporations in the USA. The number-one manufacturer,
distributor and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and
syrups worldwide is best known, however, for its flagship product Coca
Cola, invented by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in 1886. The Coca
Cola formula and brand were bought in 1889 by Asa Candler, who
incorporated the Coca Cola Company in 1892. Besides its namesake,
Coca Cola currently has nearly 400 brands on the market in over 200
countries or territories and provides 1∙5 billion servings to consumers
each day. The company and its products have been criticised by various
sources for a whole variety of reasons. These include: negative health
effects resulting from consumption of its products, exploitative labour
practices, high levels of pesticides in its products, the construction of
plants in Nazi Germany which employed slave labour, environmental
destruction, monopolistic business practices, hiring paramilitary units
to murder trade union leaders and marketing unhealthy products for
children.
w w w . c o c a - c o l a . c o m (English and several other languages)
w w w . k i l l e r c o k e . o r g (critical website)
w w w . i n d i a r e s o u r c e . o r g (critical website)
w w w . i n m i n d s . c o . u k / b o y c o t t - c o c a - c o l a . h t m l (critical website)
Danone
Groupe Danone (known as Dannon in the USA) is a French foodproducts
company based in Paris. It claims world leadership in fresh
dairy products, marketed under the corporate name, and also in
bottled water. Besides the Danone/Dannon brand of yoghurts, the
company owns several internationally-known brands of bottled water:
Volvic, Evian and Badoit. About 56% of its 2006 net sales derived
from dairy products, 28% from beverages and 16% from biscuits
and cereals. Danone owns many water brands worldwide. In Asia, it
has acquired Yili, Aqua (Indonesia) and Robust (92%), and has a 51
per-cent holding in China’s Wahaha Joint Venture Company, giving
it a total market share of 20% and making it the leading vendor of
packaged water in Asia.
w w w . d a n o n e . c o m (French)
w w w . d a n o n e . d e (German)
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