Who Makes Sam's Club Member's Mark Bottled Water?

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Sam's Club carries over 6,000 items, more than 1,700 of which are sold under the Member's Mark store brand. (Here's our guide to the best and worst items to buy at Sam's Club.) As with many private-label offerings, they're not made by Sam's Club itself, but instead by a variety of producers that specialize in store brands or also make name brands. That's the case for the Member's Mark bottled water, which is manufactured by Niagara Bottling of Diamond Bar, California.

Member's Mark sells purified water, which simply means that it's been processed to remove any contaminants before it's sold. The product info doesn't specify the origin, so we don't know where this water comes from precisely. However, Niagara says it is sourced from a "well, spring or municipal water source" (meaning that it can be directly from a natural source or simply tap water). Perhaps that's why Member's Mark water didn't score particularly high in our taste test of bottled water.

Niagara isn't exactly a household name in the category of bottled water, but that doesn't mean it's a small player in the industry. The company sells a variety of beverages under its own brand in addition to producing store-brand offerings for retailers like Walmart, Target, Albertsons Companies, 7-Eleven, and Costco. However, that doesn't mean these items are interchangeable. In fact, we found that the Refreshe purified water (from Albertsons Companies stores) tasted notably better than the Member's Mark water in our test. If it comes from the same producer, what gives?

The simple answer is that Niagara Bottling is large and runs 43 facilities across 26 states. It's only logical that water bottled at a facility in one state would taste different from what you encounter in another. It's also worth noting that not all of Sam's Club's store-exclusive water has the same supplier: The Member's Mark jugs designed for dispensers or coolers come from Minneapolis-based Premium Waters. (Niagara doesn't list jugs for water coolers among its products, which could explain the change in providers.) Like Niagara, Premium Waters doesn't specify which location handles the bottling, but its network includes 26 locations in 14 states.