S.Pellegrino

S.Pellegrino is an Italian natural mineral water brand, owned by the company Sanpellegrino S.p.A, part of Swiss company Nestlé since 1997. The principal production plant is located in San Pellegrino Terme in the Province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. Products are exported to most countries in Europe, the Americas, Oceania and the Middle East, as well as in Asia in Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Corporate organisation

Sanpellegrino S.p.A was founded during 1899, and is based in Milan, Italy.

On April 20, 1970, the company changed its name from Società Anonima Delle Terme di S.Pellegrino to Sanpellegrino S.p.A.

In 1997, Sanpellegrino S.p.A. was bought by Perrier Vittel SA, a division of Nestlé which also owned the Perrier and Vittel bottled water brands.

Paolo Luni, who joined the company as a consultant, then became General Manager and eventually CEO, left the company in 1999 after having inaugurated the Sanpellegrino Centennial celebrations, which took place in Teatro La Scala in Milan.

Production

The Sanpellegrino Company has ten production sites in Italy including its headquarters. More than 1,850 people work in the company. It also manages other brands like Vera, Levissima and Acqua Panna, and its revenue, according to the balance sheet of the year 2016, amounts to 895 million euros, about 96 million euros less than the previous year. 50,000 bottles of water are produced every hour in the San Pellegrino plant, for a total amount of one million bottles a day including soft drinks, sparkling water and cocktails. The bottles are then sorted to be exported to major countries around the world.

In 2005, five hundred million bottles were sold globally. In 2017, that number had increased to one billion bottles.

Varieties

* Sparkling Mineral Water
* Essenza Flavored Mineral water: Lemon, Blood Orange & Black Raspberry, Dark Morello Cherry & Pomegranate, and Tangerine & Wild Strawberry
* Sparkling Real Fruit Juice Beverage: Blood Orange, Lemon, Lemon Mint, Orange, Grapefruit and Pomegranate, Tangerine

Mineral water production

S.Pellegrino mineral water is produced in San Pellegrino Terme. The water may originate from a layer of rock below the surface, where it is mineralized from contact with limestone and volcanic rocks. The springs are located at the foot of a dolomite mountain wall which favours the formation and replenishment of a mineral water basin. The water then seeps to depths of over and flows underground to a distant aquifer.

The water from the spring is naturally carbonated from the earth.

History

S.Pellegrino mineral water has been produced for over 620 years. In 1395, the town borders of San Pellegrino were drawn, marking the start of its water industry. Leonardo da Vinci is said to have visited the town in 1509 to sample and examine the town's miraculous water, later writing a treatise on water.

Analysis shows that the water is strikingly similar to the samples taken in 1782, the first year such analysis took place. In fact, doctors from Northern Italy in the 13th century used to suggest that their patients go to the Val Brembana spring for treatment. Over the years, its therapeutic properties attracted many visitors, and, at the beginning of 1900, San Pellegrino Terme became a mineral spa holiday resort with a casino, thermal baths and a hotel.

In 1794 a treatise mentioned S.Pellegrino water as a treatment method for kidney stone disease.
In 1839, S.Pellegrino water was recommended for people affected with kidney diseases and urinary tract infection.

In 1760, Pellegrino Foppoli built a bathhouse where visitors had to pay a fee to use the indoor facilities.
In 1803, Foppoli's descendants sold the bathhouse to Giovanni Pesenti who wanted to construct a larger building.
The town council feared that this project would prevent visitors from free use of the spring. For this reason, they filed a complaint with the prefect which led Ester Pesenti and Lorenzo Palazzolo to sign an agreement in 1831. They decided that the 24 unit spring would be divided into two. So that, 17 units were given to Pesenti and Palazzolo and 7 units to San Pellegrino Terme town council.

In 1834, the flood of the Brembo, the river that crosses San Pellegrino Terme, caused serious damage in the valley.
Since the restoration required huge expenses, in 1837 the town leased Pesenti and Palazzolo its share of the water for 12 years. In 1841, Ester Pesenti requested an authorization to continue to expand the bathhouse.

One year later, another flood hit the valley and San Pellegrino Terme sold three-quarters of its shares to Pesenti. Since the water had always been connected to the territory, they agreed to give the remaining quarter of the shares to the residents of the town who still can use an external tap free of charge. The construction work finished in 1846.

When Queen Margherita visited the town in 1905, many articles appeared on the Giornale di San Pellegrino, in which it was illustrated that the bottled mineral water was sold in the main Italian cities, in many cities around Europe, as well as in Cairo, Tangiers, Shanghai, Calcutta, Sydney, Brazil, Peru, and the United States. At that time, one case of 50 bottles cost 26 Italian lire, while a case of 24 bottles cost 14 Italian lire.

At the beginning of the 20th century, carbon dioxide was added to S.Pellegrino to prevent the development of bacteria, especially during long overseas travels. It is still taken from sources in Tuscany and sent to San Pellegrino Terme.

The spa facilities were renovated, and in 1928, they were equipped with more modern tools for various diagnostic needs, such as the radioscopic and radiograph room and the microscopic and chemical analysis laboratory. In addition, Granelli reorganized the bottling plant with new equipment, which moved up to a production capacity of 120,000 bottles a day.

At the beginning, it was a handmade production, then it became gradually mechanized and was managed by an all female staff. The first machinery was introduced in 1930 and, since that moment, the amount produced has been increasing. Subsequently, the company began a packaging process for shipping to the recipient countries.
In 1961, Sanpellegrino S.p.A. started to produce bottled mineral water and other beverages in the new San Pellegrino Terme factory.
In 1932, the ''Aranciata'' orangeade