New for this year, evian and Wimbledon build on their long-lasting partnership by continuing to deliver evian natural mineral water at The Championships, but now through their first-ever refillable system on court.
As the Official Water of The Championships since 2008, evian and Wimbledon join forces on this step in the tournament’s sustainability journey for a pilot that will see evian water continue to hydrate players whilst encouraging and enabling refill behaviour.
27th June 2023: evian the Official Water of The Championships, together with Wimbledon, announce their first ever on-court refillable system for players, as a new way to hydrate players during The Championships.
As a long-standing partner since 2008, evian and Wimbledon join forces on this step in the tournament’s sustainability journey for an exciting pilot scheme.
The new refillable system aims to encourage refill behaviour on court, whilst continuing to deliver evian natural mineral water from its pristine mountain source, as the brand has done at The Championships for the last 15 years.
The evian refill water system for Wimbledon this year will see players provided with their own reusable bottles that can be refilled with evian natural mineral water, on-court and at designated player areas, including practice courts, dressing rooms and restaurants. Courts 2-18 will see an on-court dispenser positioned beneath the umpire chair during matches for players to refill their bottles themselves, alongside ball boys and girls, who will also be on hand to help refill on behalf of those competing. On Centre Court and No.1 Court, prefilled reusable bottles will be available to supplement the ones supplied to and brought onto court by players.
Off court, amongst the iconic grounds of SW19’s All England Club, spectators can continue to enjoy evian through the brand’s signature 75cl bottles which are made from 100% recycled* plastic, in addition to evian sparkling’s elegant 33cl recyclable aluminium can, as evian continues to hydrate the crowds through their long-standing support of global tennis tournaments.
Sarah Dossett, Vice President, Marketing, Danone UK & Ireland said: “We are incredibly proud of our long-standing relationship with one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events. Together through collaboration, we are excited to pilot this new system for 2023. The development of a refill solution to deliver our evian water to players demonstrates evian’s continued commitment to innovate. Together with Wimbledon, we are continuing our journey towards our circularity ambitions.
“Danone UK & Ireland is a health focused company, determined to play a positive role in our communities. Our water brands, like evian, offer consumers a healthy hydration* option in a convenient way. It is fantastic to be able to continue to showcase healthy hydration* at such an iconic sporting event."
On supporting evian’s ongoing circularity commitments, Sally Bolton, Chief Executive at the All England Club, said: “Wimbledon remains firmly committed to becoming Environment Positive by 2030. We continue to make improvements year-on-year to reach this ambition. Throughout, we have been working together with evian to evolve and move towards delivering evian water in the most sustainable way. We are excited about this next step in our journey together and look forward to seeing how the pilot goes and the impact it could have going forward.”
Jen Emerton, Head of Account Management WRAP, said: “Showcasing a reuse and refill model to reduce single-use plastics on one of the world’s most viewed sporting arenas is a great way to make refill the default option, and an active part of our everyday habits. Providing reusable bottles and refill facilities and using bottles in future tournaments will significantly cut the number used by players. This is a great step forward by a UK Plastics Pact member, and we hope to see this idea expanded across the entire tournament at future Wimbledon.”
The pairing of evian bottles made from 100% recycled** plastic available for spectators with the refillable system for players, reflects an exciting step in both brands’ commitment to accelerate recycling and reuse, which is a key focus of evian’s “circular by 2025” ambition.
Wimbledon and evian are also pleased to announce that this long-term partnership, which began in 2008, will continue for a further five years, with evian remaining the Official Water of The Championships, Wimbledon until at least 2027.
Next year, as part of the annual community ticket pledge, evian will be celebrating Danone UK’s charity partner FoodCycle by hosting volunteers from the food charity for a day in the iconic evian hospitality suite.
The Championships will be staged from Monday 3rd to Sunday 16th July. The refillable solution will be used by players for the first-time during practice week and throughout The Championships. Both evian and Wimbledon hope this will be a successful step in inspiring healthy refillable hydration.
About evian
evian natural mineral water comes from the heart of the French Alps, a unique geological site in the world. For more than 15 years, it travels through the rocks, where it picks up minerals. The brand has been working for over 30 years to preserve natural surroundings of the source, in an effort to preserve evian® natural mineral water’s exceptional quality for generations to come.
Natural and uniquely balanced, evian® natural mineral water is a healthy choice* throughout the day. evian®, a Danone brand, embraces the company’s One Planet. One Health vision that the health of the people and the health of the planet are interconnected and therefore seeks to protect and nourish both.
evian has proudly been the Official Water of The Championships, Wimbledon, since 2008. Each year, we explore innovative and exciting ways to bring The Championships to life in our distinctive evian way. As such a well-loved and prestigious sporting event, The Championships, Wimbledon is the perfect partner for our premium mineral water. evian has been proud to help players and the crowds stay hydrated* since 2008. Full details of evian’s Wimbledon Sponsorship can be found here.
evian part of Danone UK & Ireland. Danone’s family of market-leading food and drink products supports the health of millions of consumers and patients throughout all stages of their lives. Danone is also a leading provider of specialised early-life nutrition products and services through its Nutricia brand. In the UK and Ireland, millions of people are eating or drinking one of its products every day.
evian circular brand by 2025
evian is committed to making all its plastic bottles from 100% recycled plastic** by 2025. With input from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, evian developed a roadmap in which evian will move from a linear model to a circular one, where all bottles will be made from recycled plastic*. This will enable plastic to evolve from potential waste to become a valuable resource. evian plans to achieve this through pioneering partnerships to redesign its packaging, accelerate recycling initiatives and remove plastic waste from nature. In 2020 evian launched its first range of bottles made from 100% recycled plastic**. The innovation is currently available in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany and the UK. The launches mark key milestones for the brand as it continues to evolve the way it delivers evian in the most sustainable way possible and looks to become circular by 2025. All evian bottles are recyclable. Today in the UK, 58% of the plastic we use for our bottles is recycled plastic**.
* Drinking at least 2 litres of fluid, including water, a day can contribute to the maintenance of normal physical and cognitive function.”
** Excludes caps and labels
About Wimbledon:
The Championships, Wimbledon, is the oldest of the four tennis Grand Slams and the only one played on grass. Managed by The All England Lawn Tennis Club and staged on the Club’s Grounds, Wimbledon has evolved from its origins as a private members’ croquet club in 1868, to one of the world’s biggest annual sporting events and one of the most well-respected brands in sport. Visit www.wimbledon.com and follow us @wimbledon on all major social media platforms.