Ecosystem - Ukraine Milk Communities promotes reliable supply network
One of the very first projects backed by the Danone Ecosystem Fund, Ukraine Milk Communities is a co-creation of Danone Ukraine and Heifer, an NGO. The initiative was inspired by Danone Turkey's Milking Parlors and will help small, isolated, low-income milk producers form agricultural cooperatives for support in key areas such as milking, milk collection, cattle feed, and veterinary care. As milk quality improves and farmers gain expertise, milk prices and farm revenues will rise. Twenty cooperatives are slated for creation by May 2010, giving Danone a reliable supply of quality milk and raising the standard of living for 1200 farmers- a powerful boost for the local farm economy and villages.
Innovation - Danoninho yogurt packs calcium and vitamin D for kids
Our Danoninho range of fromage frais products now includes a yogurt version sold in multipacks and individual servings to make the product more affordable for lower incomes. Thicker and creamier than traditional yogurt, Danoninho is fortified to give children aged three to eight the calcium and vitamin D they need. Danoninho yogurt has been launched in markets including Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Brazil, where it is already generating 20-30% of sales for the brand with little displacement of other Danoninho products.
40 clinical studies on Actimel and Activia are displayed on our dedicated website www.etudes.danone.com . The studies were made available in November 2009 and reflect Danone Research's efforts to expand access to its scientific results, which have previously been presented only at international conferences and in specialized journals.
New markets - Wider horizons
This year Fresh Dairy Products broke into new markets in Syria, Lebanon, South Korea and Mozambique, where our South African business unit launched its flagship yogurt brand Nutriday. These yogurts can be stored at room temperature for up to three months-a strong selling point in a country where reliable refrigeration is virtually nonexistent- and are produced locally in a micro-plant in Maputo, the Mozambican capital. With a capacity of 5,000 metric tons a year, the plant supplies the Mozambican market and in the future will export to other countries on or near the Indian Ocean.
India - Introducing Choco+Milk
"It's not a drink, it's a chocolate smoothie." In November 2009, Danone Fresh Dairy Products entered the Indian market with Choco+Milk, a delicious pairing of chocolate flavor and smoothie texture. Currently available only in Hyderabad-India's fifth-largest city, with six million potential consumers-the product had reached nearly 1500 points of sale by February 2010. It will soon launch in two other major Indian cities, Bangalore and Chennai, with the same product positioning.
Scandinavia - 40% growth in 2009
Danone Scandinavia-our business unit for Sweden, Denmark and Norway-posted 2009 growth of 40%, the strongest in any developed country where we do business. Sales have increased 80% over the past three years thanks to Activia, Actimel and Danonino, three products that account for 90% of the unit's performance.
Spain - Densia: the first yogurt exclusively for adults 45 and over
In July 2009, Danone Spain launched new Densia yogurt to meet the special nutritional needs of consumers over 45. With 400 milligrams of calcium and 5 ?g of vitamin D-twice as much as traditional yogurt-the new product helps maintain bone density in older adults, especially women. Buoyed by its warm welcome in Spain, Densia crossed the border into Portugal last October on World Osteoporosis Day. Today Densia is also sold in Italy, where studies show that 100% of women over 45 do not get enough calcium and two-thirds get inadequate vitamin D. (Source : INN-CA Study, INRAN, Italy.)
4,7 billion euros. total 2009 sales of Activia, Actimel, Danonino and Danacol, Danone's four flagship dairy products.
Indonesia - New Milkuat a hit with Indonesian children
In February 2009, we relaunched our chocolate milk drink Milkuat Pouch, driving sales up 251% by volume over 2008. While the recipe for success included several ingredients, the most important was reinventing the product as frozen yogurt. This new version, dubbed Frozen Ice Choco, is nutritionally equivalent to the original but much more appealing to children- able to compete with leading ice cream brands, but above all healthier. To leverage this innovative product, we expanded our distribution network to get closer to our target market and priced Frozen Ice Choco at IDR 1000-about ten US cents-to make it affordable for Indonesia's underprivileged children, estimated at around 5 million.
Japan - New media spur growth
In Japan, where 99% of households have high-speed Internet access and 70 million people use social networks, the Web is a marketing powerhouse, and in 2009 our Japanese business unit revolutionized its approach, increasing total monthly visits to www.danone.co.jp by a factor of 13. And thanks to a more qualitative approach to search engine optimization, Danone Japan has quintupled search-driven traffic to its website and improved visitor registration, gathering information on the consumption habits and expectations of 700,000 new members of the Danone community in Japan. Other initiatives focused on bloggers and the general public, increasing awareness of Danone yogurts generally, and Activia-sold in Japan as Bio-in particular. Coupled with an intensive point-of-sale advertising campaign launched in 2008, these outreach initiatives have given Danone Japan a multichannel presence, propelling it into the top ranks of a fiercely competitive market. Though Danone has been present in Japan for only three years, we now hold 6% of the fresh dairy products market-up from 4.4% in 2008-and Bio is the number-two brand in its segment.
Bulgaria - Waking up to Activia Breakfast
Though our traditional yogurts are already number one in Bulgaria, Danone set the ambitious goal of launching a new product in May and June of 2009. Because the Bulgarian market is viewed as highly conservative, we researched the Activia Breakfast launch with special care, emphasizing grains for healthy growth, an affordable price, a lifestyle-oriented advertising campaign, and fun mix-it-yourself packaging. This innovative launch also urged Bulgarians to enjoy yogurt in a completely new way-by starting the day off right with Activia Breakfast. Sales exceeded targets by 292%, and Activia Breakfast already accounts for 25% of the brand's total sales.
Video of Félix Martin Garcia
Video of Jordi Constans