The entrance to the Perrier bottled water plant in the town of Vergèze, southern France, on February 7, 2025. SYLVAIN THOMAS/AFP
A new legal front has opened up against Nestlé amid the ongoing natural mineral water fraud scandal. For the first time, it is not a consumer advocacy group, but rather a competitor of Nestlé Waters, the subsidiary of the Swiss multinational food group, that has taken action. Le Monde has obtained information showing that Bonneval Emergence, a mineral water company comprising the brands Bonneval, Roche Claire and Joséphine, has filed a lawsuit against Nestlé Waters, the world's leading bottled water company, before the economic activity court in the northern Paris suburb of Nanterre for "unfair competition."
The company has asked the court to halt the sale of Nestlé's bottled water brands (including Perrier, Vittel, Contrex and Hépar) and to order a recall of all bottles, with a penalty of €1 million for each day of delay, arguing that these products "unduly" benefit from the "natural mineral water" designation. Bonneval is seeking €1.6 billion in damages for the economic disadvantage it claims to have suffered due to the "unlawful" presence of these products on both French and international markets.
