Arlene Slocombe of the organization Water Watchers in Ontario has written the following to OSFR’s advisor Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, who has international ties to Canadian groups fighting water bottlers.
The following echoes predictions for the Dean Metropoulos tactics which we posted earlier when his company took over the High Springs bottling plant on the Santa Fe.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Again, for those who don’t know me, my name is Arlene Slocombe and I am the ED of Water Watchers, a water advocacy organization based in southern Ontario.
BlueTriton is closing its Ontario operations as of January of this year. They are trying to sell, but we understand they are having challenges.
I’d like to draw our collective attention to an attached doc written by Mike Balkwill Nestle sold their North American Operations. Regrets I can not find the original with the hyperlinks, I will continue to search. But the important part is this:
Metropoulos & Co. is an investment firm with a reputation for flipping classic yet struggling American brands like Twinkies and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Metropoulos is not a buy-and-hold company like Nestlé. Rather, it is a buy-and-sell company that acquires underperforming brands, streamlines operations to cut costs, and implements risky financial tools to extract value before selling to investors at a profit. The turnaround from purchase to sale typically takes only four to seven years.
In fact, a short-term exit strategy is spelled out on the very first page of the Metropoulos playbook: the leveraged buyout. This refers to a company buyout that is funded primarily through debt. To acquire Nestlé Waters North America, Inc., Metropoulos and One Rock used $1.1 billion of their own cash, a $350 million line of credit, and $3.2 billion of junk bonds. There is a strong incentive for the investment firms to sell BlueTriton before these high-yield loans are due in 2028.
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EMBARGOED UNTIL NOVEMBER 11, 6am
PRESS RELEASE
BlueTriton Brands to Close Bottling Operations in Ontario after purchasing plant
from Nestlé – A Historic Win for Water Justice!
Guelph, ON – November 11, 2024 – Ontario non-profit Water Watchers (based in Wellington
County) is thrilled to announce that Connecticut-based BlueTriton Brands will cease all water
bottling operations in Ontario by the end of January 2025. This landmark decision to leave
Ontario water bottling marks a significant victory in the ongoing battle for water justice in
Ontario.
Water Watchers’ journey began in 2007 when community mobilization efforts were ignited over
Nestlé’s extraction of water for a bottling facility near Aberfoyle. Through extensive public
campaigns and local activism, the community declared its commitment against water
commodification, leading to a province-wide moratorium on bottling permits.
In 2021, Water Watchers successfully pressured previous owner Nestlé to exit water bottling in
North America through dedicated grassroots advocacy and collaboration with various NGOs
across the globe.
Nestlé’s operations were sold to BlueTriton, which employed a short-term exit strategy
following a leveraged buyout. As public opinion continued to coalesce against the bottled
water industry, BlueTriton recognized the unsustainable nature of its operations in Ontario.
The impact of the community’s efforts has been substantial: over nine years, no water has been
taken from the Middlebrook well, and with the closure of BlueTriton’s operations, even more
drinking water will be protected for the common good.
As Water Watchers prepares to celebrate this monumental milestone, they assert that the fight
for water justice continues. Advocacy for the phasing out of water bottling permits and the
declaration of water as a human right remain their dual priority.
The organization calls for:
● A just transition for all current employees of BlueTriton.
● The return of well ownership to local, Indigenous-informed stewardship.
● Compensation for Six Nations of the Grand River for the extensive extraction without
consent.
● The Province of Ontario to phase out permits for water bottling.
● Legal recognition of the human right to water in Canada.
Water Watchers urges all of Canada to view this milestone as a testament to strength of
collective action and ecological stewardship and to join them in the ongoing struggle to protect
water as a shared commons.
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To arrange interviews or learn more about Water Watchers – Contact Arlene Slocombe –
519-994-0270 and arlene.slocombe@gmail.com or visit https://www.waterwatchers.ca/ .
About Water Watchers
Water Watchers is an environmental non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for
equitable water management and protection. Founded in 2007, the organization has mobilized
numerous campaigns to halt water extraction for profit, while promoting access to safe drinking
water for all. Water Watchers empowers people & communities to work in solidarity towards
social justice through the unifying lens of water. Today, Water Watchers has become a
powerhouse eNGO that is a unique resource to grassroots leaders on the frontlines of water
protection, as well as a humble leader in solidarity-based approaches to environmental
protection, decolonization, & climate action. Our unique campaign-based approach to mobilizing
public support to protect water helps communities win major victories and discover their power
within the intersectional environmental movement. These campaigns bring more and more
people into the movement to protect water by connecting the dots between local and systemic
issues, targeting systemic change through people-power and movement-building.
18 years after our founding, we are able to finally say we have won our core campaign against
corporate for-profit water takings in Wellington County, but this victory means so much more
than that. It is the first step in a larger journey to end wasteful water bottling in Canada and to
ensure the human right to water is upheld for all through robust public drinking water systems.
Attributable Quotes
Mark Goldberg, founder of Water Watchers observed, “This is a monumental win in our
community’s journey for water justice. Tireless efforts of so many committed volunteers over
the past 18 years have led to this outcome.” He went on to say, “It has been a David and
Goliath’ story, but proof positive that committed and sustained pressure can turn even
companies as formidable as Nestlé, and now BlueTriton.”
Arlene Slocombe, Executive Director of Water Watchers, expressed relief at the news, but
noted the group’s commitment to supporting employees impacted by this closure. “While we
celebrate this victory, we also advocate for a just transition for those whose sustained their
livelihoods through this industry,”
“We have opposed this water taking for many years. This is welcome news for our community
who continue to face water insecurity in our home reserve of Six Nations,” said Dr. Dawn Martin Hill, Mohawk woman, Six Nations. “It is appalling that while we don’t all have safe drinking water in our homes, this company has been allowed to extract precious groundwater from our treaty lands and sell it back to us. Six Nations demands compensation for the years of profit from this water taking. And we never want to see those wells used for corporate profiteering ever again.”
Mary Sandy, Oneida bear clan, Clanmother stated, “The water exploitation of our treaty territory is a violation of Canadian law, no one gave consent to either Nestle or BlueTriton to extract our water while we go without.”
“People around the world have looked to our actions as they saw us as leaders in the fight
against water privatization,” remarked Mike Nagy, former Board Chair of Water Watchers. “We
are grateful for the long-term support from media and community members alike who have
helped sustain this movement.”
