Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages sets sights on ‘better4you’ beverage growth

From sophisticated Maison Perrier mocktails, to a Sopranos star-studded launch for its Sanpellegrino CIAO! brand last year, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages’ chief growth officer Elisa Gregori is on a mission to reorient the brand owner from a waters-first business to a market leader in the thriving ‘better4you’ beverages category.

For Gregori, who has been working in non-alcoholic beverages for more than two decades, there’s never been a better moment to make the pivot. Already a $1trn global market (more than twice that of coffee), the category is booming thanks to greater awareness around health, hydration and alcohol moderation.

“It’s a category that just keeps growing,” she says. “Consumers are shifting away from less healthy segments – traditional sodas, alcohol or juices full of sugar, anything that is perceived as artificial – and moving into both water and healthier, ‘better4you’ beverages. One third of category growth is coming from consumers choosing something healthier rather than a traditional soda. They’re looking for alternatives with less sugar and shorter ingredient lists. Or simply water.”

The statistics bear this out. A poll by Aviva found that nearly half of UK adults (48%) said they planned to drink less alcohol or cut it out altogether (48%) in 2025. And two-thirds (63%) of global consumers are actively seeking out beverages that meet health and wellbeing goals, according to research firm FMCG Gurus.

To take advantage, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages has been drilling down into innovation, with plans to push further in 2026 across its portfolio of heritage brands, which includes both global players like Sanpellegrino and Maison Perrier, as well as regional market leaders like Buxton and Essentia, to combine credibility and craftsmanship with contemporary flavour and formats.

Last year, Maison Perrier Chic made its debut, a line-up of premium mocktails combining Perrier’s bubbles with real fruit juice and natural flavours. It was followed by Sanpellegrino CIAO! – low-calorie sparkling waters also made with real fruit juice and a hint of salt.

“Water is still very sexy,” points out Gregori. “In the UK, the water sector is in double-digit growth as consumers value hydration and healthier lifestyles. But people are also looking for that socialising moment. They’re ready to go for something healthier but they want a full taste experience, they want new flavours and to be surprised. If you’re not drinking alcohol, you still want to have fun. Without surfing fads, these launches are our way to stay connected with that consumer and those trends.”

Connected, digital-first campaigns

Cultural connectedness is also deeply woven into the campaigns that underpinned each launch. For Maison Perrier, a partnership with Emily in Paris star Lily Collins – “she helps dial up the Frenchness, the heritage, the stylishness, the desirable”, says Gregori – and for Sanpellegrino CIAO! a celebration of all things Italian-American, with the support of cast members from hit show The Sopranos.

The former in particular speaks to an audience proving a huge engine for growth in the non-alcoholic beverages space: Gen Z. “They’re one of the first generations that isn’t born with this love and affection for alcohol. They’re open to discovering options in line with their healthier lifestyles. Already with the launch of Maison Perrier Chic, we’ve managed to attract a lot of new younger consumers that weren’t in the franchise before. They’re going to be one of our sources of growth.”

As a result, marketing and branding adopts a digital-first approach, she explains, that incorporates a less top-down strategy and more immersive, culturally-resonant moments. “There’s a lot more being done in terms of interacting with the consumer and offering them experiences.” Just last month, Sanpellegrino signed up as an Official Partner of Formula 1 team Scuderia Ferrari, two Italian brands uniting their rich heritage, craftsmanship and commitment to performance. The collaboration is set to include product collaborations, digital-first content and immersive experiences.

Across the 100-plus markets where its products are distributed, there are inevitably some tweaks to flavours and formats in line with local preferences, adds Gregori: “We’re more and more thinking global scale with some local freedom.” That often means testing a campaign or activation in one market and then adapting it slightly for international rollout. The longstanding partnership between Buxton and the TCS London Marathon, for example, has been followed up with similar integrations between Levissima water and the Wizz Air Milano marathon, and Essentia Water’s partnership with Athlos women’s track and field event in New York City.

Change in culture

It isn’t only external changes that have accompanied the reorientation of the Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages business, though, with changes to internal culture, processes and structure too, explains Gregori.

For one, becoming a ‘better4you’ beverages leader “requires a lot more agility”, she says. “The generational shift when it comes to communications and media also demands that we work on media digitalisation and data a lot faster. Before campaigns were created by agencies and now it’s a lot more integrated. The innovation team has also been boosted because we need to do a lot more launches, as well as events and partnerships.” For its January ‘Sober Chic’ campaign for Maison Perrier, Nestlé Waters & Premium Beverages also used AI to help generate different localisations for the campaign across platforms and geographies.

A greater level of integration between functions like sales and marketing is reflected in Gregori’s own change in title too. The former global CMO became chief growth officer as of January 2026. “Why growth and not only marketing? Because it’s paramount that we execute when it comes to customer storytelling and shopper behaviour. Creating a product is not enough if we don’t make sure that it’s in the right channel with the right customers.”

How is Gregori seeing the evolution of these legacy brands?

“We’re still true to the origin of those brands, the craftsmanship, the high quality. But at the same time, we know those brands can remain modern for decades after decades, by creating new products and reinventing themselves in terms of communications and experiences for consumers.

“Our brands were pioneering when they were created so we’re not stretching them when we’re trying to be innovative,” she insists. “Perrier was an innovation 160 years ago when it was brought to market by Dr Louis Perrier. We’re simply continuing and passing onto the next generation a brand that is not a museum but is in sync with culture and with what the consumer wants.”