5/30/2023 0 Comments Bottlemania by Elizabeth RoyteMultinational corporations realized that bottled water promised major profits not just as a luxury good, but also as a mainstream commodity. The transatlantic market viability of bottled water unleashed a corporate stampede to conquer the potentially enormous consumer market. By the late 1990s, a fetishized commodity had come of age in the industrialized world. In glass and plastic, gallons and liters, bottles of water streamed across the Atlantic, found new niches in big-box grocery stores and corner markets, dazzled diners on the menus of elite restaurants, and quenched the thirst of high-expenditure guests at fine hotels. 1 It steadily grew into a luxury commodity for European elites. Let’s consider the birth of a fetishized commodity: bottled water.īottled water first emerged in the crystalline waters of the French Alps, born sparkling and still to the proud parents of Perrier and Evian. How have economic markets shaped global perception of fresh water? Several case studies from recent history are illuminating.
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