water and you
I was born in the early sixties and when I was a kid growing up, long before the term "yuppy" was coined, I lived in a tourist area that catered to "rich folk" from New York City, NJ and Long Island as well as some tourists from Montreal. I now realize they weren't really rich, they were middle class and living beyond their means. Ha! And now everyone is doing it.
But back then, one of the ways I noticed who were the haves and who were the have-nots was that the people with money would carry water around. More specifically Perrier-- in those pretty green glass bottles. Like the ones over on the left. (The Perrier brand was introduced to the US from France in 1977)
The idea of paying money for water was just insane to me. And me and my friends figured being crazy was a side effect of being wealthy. I pretty much still think that, y'know? Only now everyone is paying money for water, not just the wealthy and social wannabes. Go figure.
This month's issue of Fast Company has a long article on bottled water and reading it has had me reminiscing about the days when people didn't waste their money on water from a store when perfectly good water is available from the tap in most of the US.
Like I mentioned above, the first bottled "premium" water available in this country was Perrier in 1977. Other brands were available on a regional basis like Poland Spring, Deer Park, and Saratoga Spring but these were typically sold in gallon jugs and not marketed aggressively like Perrier. Since that intro in 1977, bottled water has burgeoned into a 15 billion dollar business (2006) with no end in sight. And 24% of that is simply bottled municipal tap water sold by Pepsi and Coca-cola under the names Aquafina and Dasani. Amazing.
The biggest market share in the US is held by Nestle at 26%. Nestle bought up many of the local preexisting brands like the aforementioned Poland Springs to gain market share quickly--they also own premium brands like Perrier and San Pellegrino.
A buck for a bottle of water? I dunno. I think the water from my well tastes just fine--and it's free. By the way, that's my well over there on the left--it's not very fancy.
But back then, one of the ways I noticed who were the haves and who were the have-nots was that the people with money would carry water around. More specifically Perrier-- in those pretty green glass bottles. Like the ones over on the left. (The Perrier brand was introduced to the US from France in 1977)The idea of paying money for water was just insane to me. And me and my friends figured being crazy was a side effect of being wealthy. I pretty much still think that, y'know? Only now everyone is paying money for water, not just the wealthy and social wannabes. Go figure.
This month's issue of Fast Company has a long article on bottled water and reading it has had me reminiscing about the days when people didn't waste their money on water from a store when perfectly good water is available from the tap in most of the US.
Like I mentioned above, the first bottled "premium" water available in this country was Perrier in 1977. Other brands were available on a regional basis like Poland Spring, Deer Park, and Saratoga Spring but these were typically sold in gallon jugs and not marketed aggressively like Perrier. Since that intro in 1977, bottled water has burgeoned into a 15 billion dollar business (2006) with no end in sight. And 24% of that is simply bottled municipal tap water sold by Pepsi and Coca-cola under the names Aquafina and Dasani. Amazing.
The biggest market share in the US is held by Nestle at 26%. Nestle bought up many of the local preexisting brands like the aforementioned Poland Springs to gain market share quickly--they also own premium brands like Perrier and San Pellegrino.
A buck for a bottle of water? I dunno. I think the water from my well tastes just fine--and it's free. By the way, that's my well over there on the left--it's not very fancy.
Comments
And you're right... Pure well/spring water is nice (though I wouldn't recommend some of the tap water I've tasted!).
Thanks for the visit. Muffins are typically such high fat content that I don't know if I could tolerate them or not (at least when I have a virus). Anything with high fat is deadly for my stomach!