New EFBW President
The European Federation of Bottled Waters (EFBW), representing the interests of natural mineral and spring water producers in Europe, has elected Muriel Lienau, CEO of Nestlé Waters in Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMENA), as its new president for the next two years.
Mrs. Lienau, a French national, leads both the Nestlé Waters Business in EMENA and the Global Strategic Business Unit of Nestlé Waters. The mother of four children has been working with Nestlé for 29 years in France, Germany and Switzerland. Mrs. Lienau has always made a priority of ensuring that the outstanding quality of natural mineral and spring waters is recognised and maintained by rigorously protecting catchment areas across Europe.
Muriel Lienau.
Mrs. Lienau says she was honoured to be taking over the presidency for the upcoming two years, with a clear ambition to develop the category to a greater purpose, promoting natural mineral and spring waters as the most natural and healthy source of hydration and to further strengthen the sector’s sustainability credentials. “Our category wants to be a leading force to achieve a circular economy and sustainable food systems; we want to be the inspiration for others,” says Mrs Lienau.
She continues: “Supporting Europe’s ambition to be carbon neutral and a leader in biodiversity, the Natural Mineral and Spring Waters sector has the responsibility and determination to be a leading force. NMW producers have a long history of source protection to guarantee the purity of their waters, naturally contributing to a healthy environment and biodiversity. They are pioneers in setting up and financing packaging collection schemes and using fully recyclable packaging materials. As a sector we strongly advocate for a circular economy. Now we will step up our efforts on collection, including advocating for well-designed Deposit Refund Systems,so we can use more food-grade recycled materials in our packaging”.
Mrs. Lienau follows in the footsteps of Jean-Pierre Deffis, who was at the helm of EFBW from 2014. Mr. Deffis played a pivotal role in introducing a strong roadmap focusing on retaining the quality of natural mineral waters and playing a leadership role in the field of sustainability and circular economy.
