What's The Company Behind Sam's Club Member's Mark Bottled Water?

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It's well known, if you're a card-carrying Sam's Club member, that its signature line of Member's Mark products isn't actually manufactured by Sam's Club, but rather, production is outsourced to other companies — sometimes huge household names. They are made in the same factories as the subcontractor's brand-name products but labeled as Member's Mark instead. And it appears that Niagara Bottling is one of the big brands behind Sam's Club Member's Mark grocery products — the Member's Mark Purified Bottled Water, to be precise.

While Sam's Club holds its cards close to the vest when it comes to which companies it works with to create private label products, online sleuths seem to be pretty certain the water comes from Niagara. One Reddit user even claimed, "Sometimes they slip up and will place a Niagara branded plastic bottle with the Sam's label on it." Another piece of information that seems close to undeniable proof comes from a Louisiana Litter Research report that logs and groups corporate brands by their actual manufacturers to track waste, and it lists Niagara Bottling as the producer of both Member's Mark and Great Value bottled water.

The 16.9-ounce bottles from Niagara and Member's Mark certainly look similar, although neither of them was featured in Food Republic's bottled water ranking, so it's unclear what they taste like side-by-side. And, while the common assumption that Sam's Club is always cheapest isn't true across the board, it does hold up for water. A 40-pack of 16.9-ounce Member's Mark bottles from Sam's Club will run you $3.98 (about $0.10 per bottle), compared to around $0.17 give or take for each bottle in the 24 packs of Niagara commonly found at other retailers.

Niagara was founded in Irvine, California, in 1963 by Andrew Peykoff Sr. The company shifted from bottling water for home and office delivery in 5-gallon glass receptacles into single-serving bottled water for private label customers (wholesale, members-only stores, and grocery chains) in the early '90s. Niagara is now run by Andy Peykoff II, who became president and CEO in 2002. It operates around 50 facilities all across the country in states such as New Mexico, Washington, South Carolina, Florida, and many more and is the largest family owned and operated bottled water business in the United States. While the average consumer may not be able to find exactly where the water in their Niagara bottle came from, the company says its water is bottled from a selection of wells, springs, and municipal water sources.

Beyond its purified water, Niagara Bottling offers spring water, distilled water, infant water (with added minerals), alkaline water, sparkling water, vitamin-enhanced waters, and bottled teas. Some of these are marketed under the Niagara name with its own branding, but many of them are labeled for its private label customers. Not only is Niagara also thought to be the producer of Member's Mark Sports Drink, but it appears to be the company behind Costco's Kirkland brand water bottles, as well. As a titan on the bottled water landscape, its water is just about everywhere you shop, so you've probably gulped down a bottle of Niagara in some form or another, even if you didn't realize it.