OKLAHOMA CITY — Bottled water is big business, and there’s no bigger giant in the world of water than Nestle.
A behind-the-scenes battle brewed for years between the international company and a family-owned company in Oklahoma.
Nestle, a Swiss company, with thousands of brand names under their umbrella, is worth more than $200 billion.
Water is now almost ten percent of their business.
Nestle owns dozens of brands of water (Pure Life, Ice Mountain, Perrier, Poland Spring, Pellegrino and Ozarka), and now bottles more water than any other company on the planet.
Water is also the family business for Oklahoman Steve Raupt. He runs the company his father bought and built, Eureka Water Company.
“It’s been in my family 43 years. We’re very proud of that.” said Raupt.
Although Eureka is the name, the family-owned company is the biggest distributor in Oklahoma for the most popular brand in the state, Ozarka.
“We are Oklahomans producing an Oklahoma product for Oklahomans. That’s what we’re trying to do.” Raupt said.
Headquartered in downtown Oklahoma City, they produce six sizes of Ozarka water.
But, if you go to the grocery to buy Ozarka water you may be surprised to know that there are actually two types of Ozarka, and you have to look closely to see the difference.
Ozarka Drinking Water is bottled in Oklahoma City. Profits stay here in the sooner state.
Ozarka Spring Water comes from East Texas, and profits go to water goliath, Nestle.
That distinction happened over the course of the past forty years and a major multi-million dollar lawsuit, a complicated legal battle involving allegations of tortious interference and breach of contract.
In the 1970s Eureka Water Company bought an exclusive license to distribute Ozarka water in Oklahoma.
At the time of the agreement, Ozarka only produced two types of water, Ozarka Drinking Water and Ozarka Distilled Water. Ozarka Spring Water had disappeared, because the well from which it came dried up.
For years, Eureka Water Company sold Ozarka Spring Water and Ozarka Drinking Water exclusively throughout most of Oklahoma.
The trouble came pouring in, in the 1990’s when Ozarka Spring Water made a comeback in Texas.
Then, under the ownership of Nestle Waters, Ozarka Spring Water creeped into Oklahoma.
Steve Raupt took Nestle Waters to court, citing his 30-year-old licensing agreement, showing he had exclusive rights to the Ozarka name in Oklahoma.
A district court judge ruled in favor of the Raupt family. The jury trial was a month-long and the verdict was unanimous. Nestle Waters was ordered to the Oklahoma family $14 million.
But for the Raupt family the victory was short-lived. That $14 million decision was reversed on appeal. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the family could no longer use Ozarka Spring Water, the name they thought they’d bought decades before.
Eureka Water Company can still bottle and sell Ozarka Drinking Water in their Oklahoma area, but Ozarka Spring Water belongs to Nestle Waters and comes from Texas.
“We persevered. I want to get back on our feet. We pursued, and we’re trying to grow this thing. I’m passionate about the Ozarka brand. I am. I promote it in any way I can, and I will until the day I die.” Raupt said.
Nestle Waters spokesperson, Jane Lazgin, sent the following statement:
Nestlé Waters North America owns the Ozarka trademark, and has provided Ozarka®-brand spring water, sourced from natural springs in Texas, to retail customers in Oklahoma for more than 30 years.
Eureka Water Co. is licensed to use the Ozarka brand name to distribute purified drinking water, with mineral additives for taste, and distilled water, in a sixty-county area in Oklahoma. Eureka Water relies on a well located at its facility in Oklahoma City to produce its Ozarka-brand drinking and distilled products.
With the prior legal dispute having been resolved two years ago, Nestlé Waters hopes to work cooperatively with Eureka in the future concerning the continued sale of each company’s respective Ozarka-brand bottled water products in Oklahoma.
Click here for the Ozarka Licensing Agreement
Click here for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision
