ネスレ、仏東部でのミネラルウオーター用採水停止　干ばつの影響で

【ストラスブール（フランス）ＡＦＰ＝時事】食品世界大手のネスレの子会社は４日、干ばつや天候の予測が難しくなっていることから、フランス東部ボージュ県の水源２か所でのミネラルウオーター向け採水を停止すると発表した。（写真はミネラルウォーター資料写真）
　ネスレ子会社「ネスレウォーターズ」は、「ヴィッテル」「ペリエ」などのブランドを展開する。
　今回対象となった水源の水は、マグネシウム含有量が高い「エパー」に使われている。他４か所の水源での採水は引き続き行われ、同ブランドの販売も継続される。
　同社は「産業全体と同様、ネスレウォーターズは、悪化の一途をたどる気象状況に直面している。頻度と激しさを増した干ばつとそれに続く豪雨などが、ボージュの水源での採水に影響している」と述べた。
　フランス全土では今年１月から２月にかけて、３２日間にわたりまとまった雨が降らなかった。昨夏の記録的な暑さに加え、今冬の干ばつにより、緊急節水対策が講じられている地域も多い。
　ネスレ以外のフランス産ミネラルウオーターブランドも干ばつの影響を受けている。
「ボルビック」を販売する食品大手ダノンは、５～６月は採水量を５％減らす予定だとＡＦＰに話した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】



〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/05/12-18:41）

Global food and beverage giant Nestle said Thursday that it would stop extracting from two mineral water wells in eastern France due to drought and increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.
The group's mineral water subsidiary, Nestle Waters, which owns brands such as Vittel and Perrier, said it had suspended operations at two wells used to produce its Hepar water in the Vosges region of eastern France.
Another four wells will continue to be used for the brand, which is coveted for its high levels of magnesium.
Like the whole of the industry, Nestle Waters faces worsening climatic conditions, with more intense and frequent events, such as regular droughts followed by heavy rain, which affect operating conditions at some wells on its site in the Vosges, the group told AFP.
The two Hepar wells were identified as particularly vulnerable because of their shallow depth which means it is very difficult to maintain the stability of the essential characteristics of a natural mineral water.
France as a whole saw 32 days without significant rainfall in January and February, a winter drought that followed record heat last summer that saw emergency water measures put in place for most of the country.
An estimated 75 percent of French groundwater sources were at moderately low or very low levels in April, according to the state-run French Geological Survey (BRGM).
Water restrictions are currently in place for 20 out of 96 departments on the mainland, with three judged to be in crisis in the southeast of the country.
Other French mineral waters are also affected by the increasing scarcity of water, including the famed Volvic brand which is extracted from the formerly volcanic hills of central France.
Authorities in the Puy-de-Dome area widened water restrictions on Tuesday this week.
The owner of Volvic, French multinational Danone, is set to decrease its monthly water extraction by five percent in May and June, the company told AFP.