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Nestlé Pure Life earned the company an estimated $3.2bn in 2007. This figure surpasses the combined sales of major rival water brands Evian and Volvic from Danone, according to research from Zenith International and ACNielsen.

Nestlé Waters executive vice president and CEO, John Harris, said: “Nestlé Pure Life didn’t even exist 10 years ago, yet it has now become the world’s top selling bottled water brand. That’s quite a remarkable achievement.”

Harris revealed that the brand had achieved a 28% compound growth rate over the last four years. Year-to-date growth for the brand was 16%, which rises to an impressive 18% when looking specifically at the North American market.

This time next year, the product is set to become the number one selling brand of water produced in the US. In the US, Nestlé didn't launch NPL as a completely new brand. Instead, it acquired the long-established regional brand Aberfoyle in 2000 and transformed the product into Pure Life.

The company has since released low-calorie flavour extensions to add value to the brand and give it more flexibility in pricing.

The company is making no secret of its determination to grow the Pure Life brand in emerging markets, including parts of Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. The brand has already achieved significant inroads in China, the Philippines, Nigeria, Egypt and parts of the Middle East over the past few years.

Nestlé Pure Life is bottled, where possible, in the country or at least the region where it's sold, combining the benefit of a local production and the strength of a worldwide brand.

Depending on the country and the consumer needs, the brand is sold as a still, sparkling, plain or flavoured water. Pure Life was also the Official Water of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006.

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