CG Roxane, the maker of Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water, is shoring up its sustainability credentials as the company prepares to open a new East Coast rPET production plant next year and launches a new integrated marketing campaign highlighting its environmental efforts.
The new plant, located in Benton, Tennessee and set to go online in the first half of 2022, is part of the company’s ongoing mission to achieve at least 50% recycled rPET packaging for all of its U.S. production operations. According to VP of marketing Shawn Fitzpatrick, the company has already hit that target on the West Coast through its rPET processing plant in San Bernardino, California, which supplies its two California bottling facilities. CG Roxane aims to convert its packaging to 100% rPET within three years.
“Before we do anything else, we’re going to try and make sure that we can supplement and get that production from the East coast to match what’s in the West Coast,” he said. “Once we stabilize that, then we’ll look to ramp up slowly for the production overall throughout the country into a high point of rPET, but the minimum goal is minimum 50%.”
The expansion comes as the company releases the results of a commissioned survey conducted by OnePoll that found a majority of consumers are skeptical or outright mistrust brands that claim to be sustainable. According to the results, 71% of consumers (out of about 2,000 interviewed) said they believe brands claim to be sustainable but do not follow through with their actions, while only 26% are “very likely” to believe companies that use the word “green” to describe products.
The mistrust, however, does not reflect these consumers’ own behavior as 68% said they strive to be eco-conscious in their daily lives. However, 66% said it is “too difficult” to understand if a company is truly environmentally friendly.
In order to communicate to consumers how CG Roxane is walking the walk when it comes to sustainability, the company is launching a new integrated marketing campaign highlighting its environmental mission. The new “1 Million Strong & Counting” campaign, which follows a similar series of ads from last year centered around water protection, highlights CG Roxane’s partnership with non-profit group American Forests to plant one million trees nationwide by the end of 2021.
“I think businesses are reacting to how consumers are recognizing the need to be more sustainable,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’ve been at home for a long time, we’ve recycled more. So I think there’s a growing sense that we should be doing something more for the planet.”
CG Roxane’s emphasis on sustainability also comes as more states are passing regulations forcing brands to use environmentally friendly packaging. SIgned into law in September, California will begin requiring plastic-packaged beverages to use at least 15% recycled materials on January 1, 2022, increasing to 25% in 2025 and 50% in 2030. Fitzpatrick acknowledged that similar laws have generated momentum in other states, including Washington.
CG Roxane is not the only major bottled water producer embracing better-for-the-planet packaging. Last month, BlueTriton Brands — the company comprising the former Nestle Waters portfolio of Poland Springs, Ozarka, Deer Park, Arrowhead, Ice Mountain, and Zephyrhills — announced it had switched to 100% rPET plastic. The move was accompanied by the “One-for-One Promise” marketing campaign, which pledged to donated a bottle of water to Feeding America and local disaster relief organizations nationwide for every bottle of water that consumers pledge to recycle, up to 3 million bottles.
The shift of major bottled water brands to rPET comes as aluminum-packaged waters gain traction (and investment interest) in the broader beverage market. In April, Proud Source Water, which comes in a reusable metal bottle, announced a regional distribution partnership with PepsiCo Beverages North America, while PATH secured new investment from TrofÍ Holdings, a firm focused on only funding mission-driven, sustainable food and beverage brands. In May, canned water Liquid Death closed a $15 million Series C round — adding to the $32 million of financing it received in 2020 — and signed a partnership with Live Nation Entertainment to serve as the exclusive water brand in over 120 venues and festivals nationwide.
CG Roxane’s campaign also arrives as the Crystal Geyser’s environmental impact has come under greater scrutiny. Last year, the company was ordered to pay $5 million after pleading guilty to illegally storing and transporting hazardous waste. The company had for over a decade filtered arsenic out of Sierra Nevada spring water and dumped it into a manmade pond. But after a 2013 water quality test showed high arsenic concentration in the pond, CG Roxane hired two companies to remove it, but did not identify the wastewater as hazardous material, leading to 23,000 gallons of contaminated liquid being discharged into a sewer. The incident did not impact the safety of the company’s bottled water products.
Last month, Crystal Geyser Water Company — a separate entity from CG Roxane that produces sparkling Crystal Geyser products as well as iced tea brand Tejava and Metromint spearmint water — abandoned plans to construct a 145,000 sq. ft. production facility in Mt. Shasta, California after several years of legal battles with local environmental organizers and indigenous water rights groups.