Danone Global CEO Antoine De Saint-Affrique On Evian’s Bicentennial: “Evian Is A Blessing Of A Brand”

BusinessFood & DrinkDanone Global CEO Antoine De Saint-Affrique On Evian’s Bicentennial: “Evian Is A Blessing Of A Brand”ByAndrew Watman,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover innovation across the food & beverage landscape.Follow AuthorMay 07, 2026, 10:20am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.evian 200th anniversary glass bottles featuring le cachatphoto by authorEvian has not changed a single drop. The natural mineral water–untouched, yet relevant for 200 years–maneuvering through changing culture. Every sip that hits the tongue stems from precipitation that hit the ground at evian’s Impluvium, the UNESCO-recognized geopark also known as the Plateau de Gavot in Évian-les-Bains, France. It sits beneath the edge of the French Alps right along the Swiss border with the backdrop of its famed Dent d’Oche mountain peak.Filtered solely through glacial rocks over a 15-year time span, each bottle of evian is filled with water that has no human interaction until it sees light for the first time since it hit the earth once it fills into its new bottled home. Delicate human involvement solely consists of protecting the land–evian’s single source–the Impluvium, and assisting it toward its next 200 years. Dent d’Oche peak at the Impluvium in Évian-les-Bains, Francephoto by author“Whatever you do today will have an impact 15 years later…We are a company that is thinking in generations,” says Antoine de Saint-Affrique, Global CEO of Danone, evian’s parent company.In his first US interview for evian’s bicentennial, de Saint-Affrique tells me about the “magic” of evian’s Impluvium. “If you pollute or don’t take care of it, what comes out will be altered,” he says. “The setting: the Alps, the nature–it’s a place where we prove that you can bring an entire community together to do the right thing for the long term. Working with the farmers,...