Dannone Case Study
7.3 CASE STUDY: THE DANNON COMPANY
Aziza S. Mukhammadieva
Southern New Hampshire University
Danone traces its routes to Europe in the early 20th century. In 1919, Isaac Carasso opened a small yogurt stand in Spain. He named it “Danone,” meaning “Little Daniel,” after his son. Carasso was aware of new methods of milk fermentation conducted at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. He decided to merge these new techniques with traditional practices for making yogurt. The first industrial manufacturer of yogurt was started (Karolefski, 2003).
Following his success in Europe, Carasso immigrated to the U.S. to expand his market. He changed the Danone name to Dannon Milk products, Inc., and founded the first American yogurt company in 1942 in New York. Distribution began on a small scale. When Dannon introduced the “fruit on the bottom” line in 1947, sales soared (Karolefski, 2003).
1967, Danone merged with leading French fresh cheese producer Gervais to become Gervais Danone. In 1973, Gervais Danone merged with Boussois-Souchon- Neuvesel (BSN), a company which had also acquired the Alsacian brewer Kronenbourg and Evian mineral water (Bruce, 2009).
In 1994, BSN changed its name to Groupe Danone, adopting the name of the Group’s best known international brand. Under its current CEO, Franck Riboud, the company has pursued its focus on the three product groups: dairy, beverages, and cereals (Bruce, 2009).
Today, Danone is a Fortune 500 company with a mission to produce healthy, nutritious, and affordable food and beverage products for as many people as possible (Dannon, 2010).
Danone, with 160 plants and around 80,000 employees, has a presence in all five continents and over 120 countries. In 2008, Danone recorded €15.2 billion in sales. Danone enjoys leading positions in healthy food: worldwide in fresh dairy products (No. 1), worldwide in bottled water (No. 2), worldwide in baby nutrition (No. 2), in Europe in medical nutrition (No. 1) (Danone, 2009).
Its
Aziza S. Mukhammadieva
Southern New Hampshire University
Danone traces its routes to Europe in the early 20th century. In 1919, Isaac Carasso opened a small yogurt stand in Spain. He named it “Danone,” meaning “Little Daniel,” after his son. Carasso was aware of new methods of milk fermentation conducted at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. He decided to merge these new techniques with traditional practices for making yogurt. The first industrial manufacturer of yogurt was started (Karolefski, 2003).
Following his success in Europe, Carasso immigrated to the U.S. to expand his market. He changed the Danone name to Dannon Milk products, Inc., and founded the first American yogurt company in 1942 in New York. Distribution began on a small scale. When Dannon introduced the “fruit on the bottom” line in 1947, sales soared (Karolefski, 2003).
1967, Danone merged with leading French fresh cheese producer Gervais to become Gervais Danone. In 1973, Gervais Danone merged with Boussois-Souchon- Neuvesel (BSN), a company which had also acquired the Alsacian brewer Kronenbourg and Evian mineral water (Bruce, 2009).
In 1994, BSN changed its name to Groupe Danone, adopting the name of the Group’s best known international brand. Under its current CEO, Franck Riboud, the company has pursued its focus on the three product groups: dairy, beverages, and cereals (Bruce, 2009).
Today, Danone is a Fortune 500 company with a mission to produce healthy, nutritious, and affordable food and beverage products for as many people as possible (Dannon, 2010).
Danone, with 160 plants and around 80,000 employees, has a presence in all five continents and over 120 countries. In 2008, Danone recorded €15.2 billion in sales. Danone enjoys leading positions in healthy food: worldwide in fresh dairy products (No. 1), worldwide in bottled water (No. 2), worldwide in baby nutrition (No. 2), in Europe in medical nutrition (No. 1) (Danone, 2009).
Its
References: Bruce, B. (2009). Danone Celebrates Its 90th Birthday. Retrieved from http://www.foodbev.com/article/danone-celebrates-its-90th-birthday CSRwire. (2013). Corporate Social Responsibility Profile of Dannon Company. Retrieved from http://www.csrwire.com/members/10333-Dannon-Company-The Dannon. (2010). The Dannon Company, Inc. 2009 CSR Overview. Retrieved from http://www.dannon.com/pdf/2009_csr_overview.pdf Danone. (2009). Danone, corporate press release. Retrieved from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=95168&p=irol-newsArticle&ID= 1336626 Danone. (2010). Danone Sustainability Report 2010. Retrieved from http://www.danone.com/images/pdf/danone_uk_24mai.pdf Danone. (2011). Danone Sustainability Report 2011. Retrieved from http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/95/95168/Danone_Sustainability_Report_2011.pdf Danone. (2012). Danone launches successful €750 million bond issue. Retrieved from http://finance.danone.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=95168&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1760816&highlight= Karolefski, J. (2003). Dannon Cultured. Retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=120 Reuters. (2013). Danone S.A. Profile, Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=DANO.PA