COUP DE FOUDRE

I founded Deep Origin Water with my husband, Stephan Jelicich. Born, bred and educated in France, I feel fortunate to have discovered New Zealand.  Stephan is a kiwi who has worked for many years in the wine industry, first making wine and then as a supplier of winemaking ancillaries and packaging.

There is a saying in France...“coup de foudre”, which means “love at first sight”. This was my experience when I first arrived in New Zealand. I loved it! I never want to leave! In France, New Zealand has a reputation of purity. When I arrived here I discovered that this was true. And since then, I have discovered so much more.

I love that this is both a young and an old country. Young, by comparison to the culture of my homeland. Old, when you consider its origins. The deep sense of connection I experienced when I first saw the unchanged landscape that has existed for thousands of years, evoked a sense of beginning in me. There is so much here which is still untouched by humanity. There is so much more to discover!

When I journeyed to this country, it was to work for one or two years before returning to France. But after my ‘coup de foudre’ I decided I was going to stay. Three years later, I am married to a kiwi guy, Stephan, and we have a beautiful baby girl. I am glad she will get to grow up in a country that still has open spaces and an undamaged environment. For me, New Zealand has become a new beginning.

Stephan’s vision of bottling the best water New Zealand has to offer, began over 15 years ago. When he finally told me about his dream, I just loved it.... We both felt it was crazy that bottled water was being transported many thousands of kilometres from some of the most industrial and populated parts of the world to New Zealand — a country that has the purest water. So we decided to rebel, bottling one of the finest New Zealand waters with the mandate of not creating excessive waste packaging and further burdening this beautiful land. 

Voila! Deep Origin Water...