When people ask about the owner of Fiji Water, they usually expect a simple name. The short answer is that FIJI Water is owned by The Wonderful Company, which is privately owned by billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, and they bought it in 2004. So behind that pretty square bottle from the islands of Fiji sits a very powerful California business family.
FIJI Water is one of the most famous premium bottled waters in the world, sold as “artesian water” from a remote aquifer in Fiji. A lot of us grab it for the taste, the look, or the status. But who owns it ties into bigger questions about ethics, the environment, health, and whether we trust the story on the label.
In this post, I want to break down who the owners are, how they got the brand, and where the money actually goes. I will walk through the environmental and social issues around the company, how FIJI Water operates in Fiji, and what critics say. Then I will zoom back out and look at what all of this means for me as a shopper, and what I want to support with my money.
Short Answer: Who Is the Real Owner of FIJI Water Today?
When people search for the owner of FIJI Water, they expect to see a single person or a simple company name. The real answer sits a layer behind the brand. FIJI Water is owned by The
Wonderful Company LLC, a private company based in Los Angeles, California. The Wonderful Company itself is owned by a married couple, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, who are long time business owners in the U.S.
Their names never appear on the FIJI Water label, which is why this question keeps coming up. The bottle shows Fiji, palm trees, and the aquifer story, but not the corporate owner. So when I talk about the owner of FIJI Water, I am really talking about the Resnicks and the business group they control.
The Resnicks bought FIJI Water in 2004, and since then it has been one brand inside a bigger group of products. The Wonderful Company also owns POM Wonderful (the pomegranate juice), Wonderful Pistachios, Wonderful Halos (those small mandarins), and several other food and drink brands. FIJI Water is one part of that wider portfolio, not a standalone family business in Fiji.
FIJI Water is not owned by the Fiji government, it is not a public company on the stock market, and it is not owned by one local person in Fiji. It is a private U.S. company. That means you cannot buy FIJI Water stock, and decisions do not come from voters in Fiji or public shareholders. They come from the Resnicks at the top.
In simple terms, the power structure looks like this:
- Stewart and Lynda Resnick own The Wonderful Company.
- The Wonderful Company owns FIJI Water.
- An executive team runs FIJI Water day to day, but they report up to the Resnicks and their leadership group.
So if I strip it down to one clear line, the owner of FIJI Water today is The Wonderful Company LLC, which is controlled by Stewart and Lynda Resnick in Los Angeles, not by the Fiji government or a local Fijian company.
Quick facts about The Wonderful Company and FIJI Water
The Wonderful Company is based in the United States, with its main headquarters in Los Angeles, California, and it operates as a private company owned by Stewart and Lynda Resnick rather than public shareholders. FIJI Water joined The Wonderful Company group in 2004, when the Resnicks bought the brand and folded it into their wider set of food and beverage businesses.
The core product is bottled artesian water sourced from an underground aquifer on the island of Viti Levu in Fiji, which is why the branding is built around that specific place. Most FIJI Water bottles are sold in the United States and in other global premium markets, where the brand is marketed as a higher end bottled water choice.
Final control sits with the Resnicks as the owners of The Wonderful Company, who oversee strategy, spending, and long term direction for FIJI Water.
Is FIJI Water owned by Fiji or the Fijian government?
A lot of people assume that because the water comes from Fiji, the owner of FIJI Water must be the Fiji government or some national company. That is not how it works. FIJI Water is a private business owned by a U.S. company, run by a U.S. family, and based in Los Angeles.
The water itself is pumped from a natural aquifer in Fiji, and the bottling plant sits in Fiji too. So the source is Fijian, but the ownership is American. The Wonderful Company, controlled by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, owns the FIJI Water brand, the trademarks, the marketing, and the rights to sell the product worldwide.
The Fiji government does not own FIJI Water, and it does not control the company in the way an owner would. Instead, the government acts as a regulator. FIJI Water has to follow local laws, pay taxes and water extraction fees, apply for permits, and deal with rules around land use and exports. That is a normal business relationship, not government ownership.
People in Fiji also do not own FIJI Water as a national or public company. There is no public stock listing for FIJI Water on a Fijian exchange or the U.S. stock market. Control sits with The Wonderful Company and its leadership, with key calls made in boardrooms in the United States, not in a government office in Suva. So when I talk about who owns FIJI Water, I am talking about a private U.S. group that operates in Fiji under local rules, not a state owned water company.
Who Are Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the Billionaire Owners of FIJI Water?
When I look at FIJI Water on a shelf, I see palm trees and that blue square bottle, not the people behind it. The real story sits with Stewart and Lynda Resnick, a billionaire couple in California who quietly control a huge food and drink empire.
They are the owner of FIJI Water through The Wonderful Company, but they rarely step into the spotlight themselves.
They made their fortune by buying farms, brands, and water rights, then turning all of that into products most of us recognize in the grocery store. Think pomegranates, pistachios, mandarins, and bottled water. Their names are low key, but their brands fill entire aisles.
How the Resnicks made their money before buying FIJI Water
Before they ever touched FIJI Water, the Resnicks were already deep into farming in California. Starting in the late 1970s and 1980s, they bought large stretches of farmland in the Central Valley. Over time, those fields and orchards became the base of what is now The Wonderful Company.
Their strategy was simple, but very focused:
- Buy land and water rights in places where they could grow high value crops.
- Plant products with a strong story, like pistachios, almonds, and pomegranates.
- Create brands, not just bulk crops, so they could sell directly to shoppers.
That is how brands like POM Wonderful were born. Instead of just selling pomegranates, they turned the fruit into a bold, red juice with a curvy bottle and health focused story. With Wonderful Pistachios, they did the same with nuts, using playful ads and clear branding so people asked for that name, not just “pistachios.”
In short, they did not just grow food. They built brands around what they grew. They used heavy marketing, sharp packaging, and a clear identity for each product. Bit by bit, this turned a farming business into a global snack and beverage company.
By the time FIJI Water came onto their radar, they already owned huge orchards, packing plants, and other drink brands. They had the money, the systems, and the marketing playbook to plug in one more high end product and scale it worldwide.
Why the Resnicks added FIJI Water to The Wonderful Company
FIJI Water fit the Resnicks’ style almost perfectly. It was already sold as a premium water with a clean, simple story: natural artesian water from a remote island in the South Pacific. That kind of origin story is gold for a marketing focused business like The Wonderful Company.
Adding FIJI Water let them:
- Sell a product that pairs well with snacks and juices.
- Expand from nuts and fruit into bottled water.
- Reach people who like luxury style items, even in something as basic as water.
From a business view, FIJI Water also helps them spread risk. If nut prices drop, or there is a bad crop year for mandarins, they still have a global bottled water brand bringing in revenue.
Their lineup now covers several categories, such as:
- Nuts and seeds (Wonderful Pistachios)
- Fruit and juice (POM Wonderful, Halos)
- Water (FIJI Water)
There is also a deeper layer. Owning a water brand means they control part of a key resource, water, not just the crops that use it. Some people see this as smart, long term planning. Others worry about large private owners holding water rights and selling it at a premium.
For The Wonderful Company, FIJI Water makes sense. It is high margin, easy to ship, and backed by a story that feels special to shoppers. If I think of what the owner of FIJI Water wanted, it was a product that could sit next to their pistachios and pomegranate juice and still feel upscale.
How much control do the owners have over FIJI Water decisions?
Because The Wonderful Company is privately owned, the Resnicks do not report to public shareholders or Wall Street. There are no quarterly earnings calls where they have to explain every small move. That freedom shapes how FIJI Water is run.
They can choose long term projects, even if they cost money at first, such as:
- Shifting marketing to focus more on health or sustainability.
- Upgrading factories or bottling lines in Fiji.
- Entering new countries slowly instead of chasing quick spikes in sales.
FIJI Water has its own executive team for daily decisions, like pricing, packaging tweaks, or which ads to run this year. But final control still flows back to the owners of FIJI Water, meaning Stewart and Lynda Resnick through The Wonderful Company.
This structure affects how they respond to criticism too. If there is pushback on plastic use or water extraction, they can change course without waiting for a shareholder vote. On the flip side, there is less outside pressure to change, since the public cannot vote with shares.
In practice, private ownership gives the Resnicks tight control over where factories go, how the brand looks, and what kind of story FIJI Water tells the world. The decisions that shape that square blue bottle in my hand start with a small circle of people at the top.
How FIJI Water Started and How It Ended Up With The Wonderful Company
To really understand the owner of FIJI Water today, I find it helps to go back to the 1990s and walk through how the brand actually started. The label tells one story. The ownership trail tells another.
Here is the short version. FIJI Water began as a small, bold idea in the Pacific, then turned into a global luxury water, then got folded into a powerful U.S. company. The name on the bottle did not change much, but the people who profit from it did.
The founding story: How FIJI Water began in the 1990s
FIJI Water started in the mid 1990s, when businessman David Gilmour saw a chance to bottle water from a remote aquifer in Fiji. The idea was simple but strong. Take naturally filtered artesian water from an underground source in the islands, bottle it at the source, and sell it as pure and untouched.
From the start, the brand leaned hard into the story of place. The early bottles talked about rain that fell on the islands, filtered through volcanic rock, and ended up in a protected aquifer. That story helped people picture something calm and far away from city life.
This was not a giant brand at first. It was a smaller company that focused on export markets, especially the United States. What caught people’s attention was how different it looked and sounded compared to regular bottled water.
The square bottle was a big part of that. Most water came in round, cheap looking bottles. FIJI Water used a solid, square design with a blue tint and tropical flowers on the label. It felt more like a design object than a simple drink.
Early marketing made sure the words “from Fiji” stood out. The brand sold a feeling of distance and purity, not just hydration. Over time, ownership moved from those early founders into bigger corporate hands, which set the stage for the next phase of growth.
How FIJI Water grew into a global luxury water brand
As more people saw FIJI Water in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it shifted from niche import to lifestyle symbol. It started to show up in places where image really matters.
I remember seeing it:
- In hotel minibars and on room service trays
- At airports in the higher priced coolers
- In movies and TV shows on fancy kitchen counters
- On tables at high end restaurants and events
The square bottle made it easy to spot on screen and in real life. The tropical label and the word “FIJI” did half the marketing on their own. It looked calm, expensive, and a little aspirational.
This was also the era when people started to treat bottled water like a fashion choice. Some reached for FIJI Water in the same way they picked a certain handbag or sneaker brand. It signaled taste, money, and a focus on “clean” living.
All of that made FIJI Water more attractive to bigger buyers. By the early 2000s, the brand already had:
- A strong visual identity
- A clear origin story
- A loyal base of higher income shoppers
That is the kind of setup a large company loves, especially one that knows how to scale food and drink brands worldwide.
The 2004 sale: When The Wonderful Company took over FIJI Water
Around 2004, the business that would later be known as The Wonderful Company bought FIJI Water. At the time, the corporate name was Roll International, owned and controlled by Stewart and Lynda Resnick. From that point forward, the owner of FIJI Water has been tied to the Resnick family through their private company.
For the average shopper, almost nothing looked different on the shelf. The square bottle stayed. The tropical label stayed. The “from the islands of Fiji” story stayed. Most people had no idea a new U.S. owner now sat behind the brand.
Behind the scenes, a lot changed. The Wonderful Company could pour far more money into:
- Marketing and brand deals
- Distribution in the U.S. and overseas
- Building stronger supply chains and logistics
FIJI Water could now piggyback on the same systems that moved POM Wonderful, Wonderful Pistachios, and other Resnick brands. That meant more shelf space, more visibility, and smoother delivery into hotels, airlines, and retailers across the world.
This is where ownership really starts to matter. Once FIJI Water moved into The Wonderful Company portfolio, the profits from that “pure Fijian water” no longer flowed mainly to early founders or a small standalone business. They became part of a large private empire run from Los Angeles.
So when I look at the history, I see a clear shift. The story on the bottle still points to Fiji, but the real owner of FIJI Water is a powerful U.S. company that bought a strong idea and scaled it. Understanding that path from small island brand to corporate asset helps answer a bigger question: who actually benefits every time someone pays extra for that square blue bottle.
Where FIJI Water’s Money Goes: Profits, Fiji, and The Wonderful Company
When I follow the money behind FIJI Water, I end up back at the same place every time. The owner of FIJI Water is The Wonderful Company, and at the top of that sit Stewart and Lynda Resnick. That ownership structure shapes where each dollar goes after someone buys a square blue bottle.
The basic path is simple. I pay at the store, the retailer keeps a cut, and the rest goes to FIJI Water as a company. From there, the money covers the real world costs of making and selling the product, then whatever is left as profit flows up to The Wonderful Company and, in the end, to the Resnicks as owners.
How profits from FIJI Water support The Wonderful Company and the owners
Once FIJI Water gets its share of the sale, it first has to pay for the basics. That means running the bottling plant in Fiji, paying staff, buying bottles and caps, shipping containers across oceans, and covering marketing, office costs, and local taxes and fees. Only after those bills are paid does profit show up.
That profit does not sit inside FIJI Water forever. Since FIJI Water is one brand in The Wonderful Company group, extra cash can move up to the parent company. From there, it helps fund a whole web of projects and brands the Resnicks control.
Profit from FIJI Water can support things like:
- New orchards or farms for pistachios, almonds, or citrus
- Upgraded equipment and technology in packing plants or processing sites
- Big marketing pushes that feature several Wonderful brands at once
Some of the money also flows into the Resnicks’ philanthropy. They have funded projects in education, art, and community programs in the United States, and FIJI Water profit sits in the same pool that helps make those donations possible.
At the top of the chain, the owner of FIJI Water, meaning Stewart and Lynda Resnick, benefits when the brand does well. Profit that is not reinvested in the business can be paid out to them as the ultimate owners.
Even though FIJI Water trades on a Fijian image, the financial reward for strong sales mainly lands in Los Angeles, inside The Wonderful Company and the family that controls it.
How much money stays in Fiji through jobs, taxes, and local spending
Even though FIJI Water is foreign owned, a real slice of its money does stay in Fiji. The company runs its bottling plant there, so it has to hire local workers for production, quality checks, maintenance, driving trucks, and handling shipping. Those wages support families in the nearby communities and ripple into local shops, markets, and services.
Beyond direct jobs, FIJI Water spends money on Fijian suppliers. That can include fuel, transport, building repairs, local contractors, and some materials and services. Every time the plant needs a road fixed, a warehouse built, or equipment serviced, part of that budget flows to local businesses.
FIJI Water also pays the Fijian government. This includes:
- Water extraction fees, paid for taking water from the aquifer
- Corporate taxes, based on the profit reported in Fiji
- Other licenses or duties, tied to export and operations
The exact amounts are not fully public in one simple report. Still, the key point is clear. Even though the owner of FIJI Water is a private U.S. company, it must follow Fijian law and pay what the government requires.
On top of that, FIJI Water has talked about funding local community programs. These have included support for schools, health projects, and some infrastructure like water systems or community buildings. I take these claims with a bit of caution, since they are often framed as brand friendly stories, not full audits.
So, how much money truly stays in Fiji? A share of every bottle sold helps pay wages, suppliers, and taxes inside the country. The rest, especially long term profit, flows upward into
The Wonderful Company and then to the Resnick family. Both things can be true at once, which is why the picture is more complex than “all the money leaves Fiji” or “FIJI Water is a pure gift to the local economy.”
Does private ownership change how transparent FIJI Water is about money?
Because The Wonderful Company is private, it does not have to publish detailed financial reports the way a public stock market company does. There is no quarterly earnings call where FIJI Water breaks out its exact profit, water fees, or tax bill for everyone to see. As a result, I only get pieces of the picture from news stories, government statements, and company PR, not a full, consistent set of numbers.
Some people see this as a downside. They want to know exactly how much profit the owner of FIJI Water makes from a public resource and how much returns to Fiji. Without public reports, it is harder to track the money in detail or compare FIJI Water to other bottled water companies.
Others say private ownership has benefits too. A private firm can ignore short term stock market pressure and focus on long term plans, such as major upgrades to plants or slow shifts toward better environmental practices. In their view, less public financial noise can make room for steadier decision making.
In the end, the structure is standard for a private company. Money flows from customers to FIJI Water, then up to The Wonderful Company, then to the owners. What we do not see are the exact numbers at each step, which leaves a lot of room for debate about how fair that flow of money really is.
Controversies Around the Owner of FIJI Water: Environment, Politics, and Ethics
When I look past the pretty bottle, I see that questions about the owner of FIJI Water are really questions about power, resources, and values. People are not only asking who owns the brand. They are asking what that owner does with water, land, plastic, and money in Fiji and in the United States.
These debates sit in three big buckets: the environment, the politics of water in Fiji, and the wider track record of The Wonderful Company.
Environmental concerns about bottling and shipping water from Fiji
The main environmental worries around FIJI Water are pretty easy to understand. They start with the basic setup. Water is pumped in Fiji, bottled in plastic, then shipped on long journeys to places like the U.S. and Europe.
Critics point to a few key issues:
- Plastic bottles add to global plastic waste. Even if some bottles get recycled, many do not. They can end up in landfills or the ocean.
- Shipping heavy water across oceans uses fuel. That means more greenhouse gas emissions compared to drinking tap water or more local options.
- Pressure on local water sources worries some Fijians. They ask how much water is taken from the aquifer, and whether nearby communities could face limits in the future.
- Energy use at the plant and in transport adds to the total carbon footprint of each bottle.
Some people feel that flying or shipping bottled water around the world is simply wasteful, especially in places where tap water is safe. To them, it feels like paying extra for an image, while the planet picks up the cost.
FIJI Water has said it is working to cut emissions, use more renewable energy at the bottling plant, and tweak packaging to use less plastic. The company has also talked about offset projects and efficiency upgrades. How far that goes, and whether it is enough, is something each of us has to weigh for ourselves.
Tension with the Fijian government over water taxes and control
The story does not stop with plastic and shipping. There have been public clashes between FIJI Water and the Fiji government over who benefits from the water itself.
In the past, the government raised or proposed higher taxes and fees on bottled water companies, including FIJI Water. The idea was simple. The water comes from Fiji, so the country should see a fair return when a foreign company sells that water overseas at a premium price.
At one point, FIJI Water reacted very strongly to a tax hike. Company leaders spoke out in the media, called the tax unfair, and even shut down operations for a short time while they pushed back. The move sent a clear signal. The brand was willing to use its economic weight in talks with a small island nation.
Tensions like this show a deeper power issue. The owner of FIJI Water sits in Los Angeles, where The Wonderful Company is based. The water source sits in Fiji, where the government is trying to manage resources for its own people.
That setup can spark conflict for a few reasons:
- The government wants revenue from a national resource.
- The company wants stable rules and lower costs.
- Local communities want clean, reliable water supplies.
When policies change, each side worries about losing control over either money or water. The government fears that foreign investors could take too much. The company fears that high taxes or strict rules could make the business less profitable.
These fights are not only about numbers on a tax sheet. They raise questions about who should decide how much water is taken, how it is priced, and how much value stays in Fiji. For many people, that is why the identity of the owner of FIJI Water matters so much.
Criticism of The Wonderful Company’s wider water and land use
The picture gets bigger once I look at The Wonderful Company and the Resnicks outside Fiji. They own large farms in dry parts of California and grow thirsty crops like pistachios and almonds. During years of drought, those farms have drawn sharp criticism for heavy water use while nearby towns and small farmers struggled.
Some critics see a pattern. In their view, the same owners control water in Fiji through FIJI Water and control large volumes of water in California through farm land and water rights. To them, the common thread is private control over a basic resource that whole regions depend on.
At the same time, the Resnicks have given large donations to universities, climate research centers, and community projects in California and beyond. Supporters point to these gifts as proof that they are trying to give back and fund helpful work. Others see the donations as a way to soften or polish a hard image built on intense water use.
The mix of big farms, heavy water demand, and glossy philanthropy is why people look closely at the wider behavior of the owner of FIJI Water, not just the story on the label.
What the company says in response to these concerns
FIJI Water and The Wonderful Company do not stay silent on all this. They usually answer criticism with a set of clear points.
They say the business:
- Creates jobs in Fiji and in the U.S.
- Runs community programs like school support, health projects, and local grants.
- Invests in environmental projects, such as reforestation or water system upgrades.
- Spends money on more efficient technology, both in farming and in bottling, to use less water and energy per unit.
The message is that the company brings economic benefits and is trying to improve how it uses resources.
As a reader, I can take those claims and compare them with outside reporting, local voices, and my own values. There is a back and forth between critics and the owner of FIJI Water, and the truth I land on will depend on which parts of the story I put the most weight on.
What FIJI Water’s Ownership Means for Me as a Shopper
At this point, I am not just looking at a pretty bottle. I know the owner of FIJI Water is The Wonderful Company, run by Stewart and Lynda Resnick, and that changes how I see every square blue bottle on a shelf. For me, it turns FIJI from a simple drink into a bundle of trade offs that sit behind that clean island image.
How ownership affects branding, price, and where I see FIJI Water
Because FIJI Water sits inside a large, well funded group, it plays in a different league than a small local brand. That kind of backing helps explain why I see it in so many high profile places: hotel minibars, airport coolers, conference tables, and glossy event photos.
Those spots are not cheap. A big owner can pay for:
- Premium shelf space at grocery stores
- Product placement at events and in media
- Sponsorships where FIJI sits next to luxury brands
All of that keeps FIJI locked into a premium position. I feel that when I look at the price tag. I am not just paying for water from an aquifer in Fiji. I am paying for marketing teams in Los Angeles, ad campaigns, design work, and global distribution.
The Wonderful Company has the money to protect that image. When I see FIJI Water, I see a brand that is carefully managed so it always looks pure, calm, and a bit exclusive. The square bottle, the blue tint, the flowers, the tropical story, none of that is random. It is part of a system built to make me feel good about paying more.
So when I grab a bottle, I am not only supporting a factory in Fiji. I am also supporting:
- A large U.S. owned food and beverage group
- Corporate decisions about water use, plastic, and shipping
- A marketing machine that keeps FIJI in places that signal status
Knowing who the owner of FIJI Water is does not ruin the product for me, but it reminds me that I am buying into a whole network, not just one peaceful spring on an island.
Questions I can ask myself before buying FIJI Water
When I reach for FIJI Water now, I pause and ask myself a few simple questions in my head. How much do I care about who owns this brand, and how do I feel about giving more money to
The Wonderful Company and the Resnicks when I could drink something else. How do I feel about bottled water in general, knowing it means more plastic and long distance shipping when my tap at home is safe.
Do I want to support the jobs and local spending FIJI Water brings to Fiji, or do I lean more toward local brands or a home filter that supports businesses closer to where I live. Are there other bottled waters or filtered options I actually like just as much, and how often do I even drink bottled water in a normal week.
I try to keep this light, not a guilt trip. Some days I might still pick FIJI for the taste or because I am at an airport and choices are limited. Other days I walk past it and refill a reusable bottle instead. What matters most is that I stay curious, pay attention to who stands behind the label, and check for updated information if ownership or company policies change over time.
Conclusion
When I zoom out, the picture is pretty clear. The owner of FIJI Water is The Wonderful Company, a private group in Los Angeles that Stewart and Lynda Resnick control. The brand started as a bold island idea in the 1990s, turned into a premium square bottle on hotel trays and movie sets, and now feeds profit into a much larger U.S. food and drink empire.
Most of the financial power sits with that owner group. Money from each bottle helps fund The Wonderful Company and, in the end, the Resnicks. At the same time, FIJI Water still has deep roots in Fiji. The bottling plant, local jobs, supplier spending, and taxes keep real money flowing into the country, even if the bigger share of long term profit leaves the islands.
There is also a steady debate around the brand. People argue about plastic waste, long distance shipping, and how much water a foreign owned company should pull from a Fijian aquifer. Others focus on the jobs, community projects, and the simple fact that people clearly like the product and keep buying it.
For me, knowing who owns FIJI Water helps me decide what I want my money to support. I do not think there is one “right” answer for everyone. I just like having the story behind the bottle in my head, so the next time I grab water, I can ask myself what matters most to me in that moment.
