FRANCE – Danone, a global leader in the food and beverage industry, has announced its ambitious “Partner for Growth” program, a strategic initiative aimed at redefining its collaborative approach with global partners.
The program, unveiled by Danone Manifesto Ventures, the company’s corporate venture arm, seeks to reshape how Danone interacts with partners by capitalizing on emerging trends and consumer insights to drive mutual growth.
“A structured, holistic, and mutually beneficial approach will transform the way we work with partners, enabling us to seize short-term opportunities while fostering sustainable growth in the long run,” Vikram Agarwal, Chief Operating Officer at Danone, said.
“It’s a strategic move that will empower us to harness the potential of our supplier and partner ecosystem, outpacing emerging trends, enhancing customer and consumer satisfaction, and unlocking sustainable growth.”
The “Partner for Growth” program is set to kick off with a groundbreaking partnership with Chr. Hansen, a leading bioscience company.
The collaboration aims to enable Danone to drive innovation in the dairy and plant-based sectors, leveraging Chr. Hansen’s cutting-edge bio-solutions capabilities and both companies’ extensive culture collections.
The program revolves around four pillars aimed at unlocking growth for Danone and its partners. The first pillar focuses on emerging science and technology, exploring breakthroughs in ingredients, agriculture, processes, and packaging to align with evolving consumer preferences.
Precision capacity creation, the second pillar, involves making Danone’s assets more flexible and intelligent by combining technology and strategic partnerships to enhance responsiveness to customer needs.
Cost competitiveness, the third pillar, entails leveraging digital technology and end-to-end value chain insights to drive efficiency, reduce waste, and optimize logistics.
Sustainability, the fourth pillar, underscores the importance of initiatives that enhance the health benefits of Danone’s brands, decarbonize operations throughout the value chain, and promote responsible engagement with employees, communities, and partners.
“Through collaboration with our partners, Danone aims to explore new horizons in product innovation, fermentation technologies, and decarbonization, ultimately benefitting our company, partners, consumers, and the planet,” Isabelle Esser, Chief Research, Innovation, Quality, and Food Safety Officer at Danone, highlighted.
“We innovate by unleashing the power of good bacteria,” Mauricio Graber, CEO at Chr. Hansen, echoed the sentiment, expressing his enthusiasm for the partnership and the transformative impact it could have on the food system.
At the event, Danone’s leadership team shared growth plans for its core categories with potential partners, celebrating existing “Partner for Growth” collaborations, including Arla Foods Ingredients, McCarthy Family Farms, and Circulate Capital.
This announcement came on the heels of Danone Institute North America’s commitment to providing up to US$260,000 in grants to support community-based sustainability, health, and nutrition initiatives earlier this year, further reinforcing Danone’s dedication to fostering positive change in the global food industry.
For all the latest food industry news from Africa and the World, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
