The European Bottled Water Association has announced it is to be known as simply WE (Water-coolers Europe). Established in 1993 as the European branch of the International bottled water association the EBWA has been heavily involved in easing the restrictions placed on the bottling of water.
The EBWA is seen as a major source of information at country level. It promotes the highest standards of quality and hygiene through training courses for its members and the published “code of good hygiene practice”. Its yearly trade fair is widely regarded as the meeting place for the industry. At the AGM on the 25th October it was decided to change the name from EBWA to WE. The association’s vision is: ‘WE’ will lead the water cooler industry by promoting high quality standards and enhancing our members’ brand.
Speaking about the rebranding WE chairman Jerome Peters said: “At the Annual General Meeting on the 12 of April in Paris ‘WE’ started the journey towards a more open and dynamic organisation. But what does this mean for our members? It is too early to reveal all our plans, but you can be assured you will see ‘WE’ more often. ‘WE’ is now working on a new website and this website will be our key communication pillar. Our members will get relevant updates, access to unlimited knowledge databases, webinars, forums and much more. This means for our National Association members they will have access to data that allows them to keep the high standards, to deal with legislative issues, to promote the key benefit of our industry (healthy hydration) and to be able to ask for support when needed.
“For our supplier members ‘WE’ will offer different membership levels and different kind of advantages. ‘WE’ is very aware that suppliers have been relevant in supporting our organisation in the last years and by executing our vision ‘WE’ will provide added value for them in return.
“‘WE’ will acquire new members, ‘WE’ will build new national organisations and ‘WE’ will fight obesity with the best weapon, namely our product: water.
