Danone to leverage Chr. Hansen’s bio-solutions capabilities for dairy and plant-based in new partnerships program

13 Sep 2023 --- Danone is joining forces with global partners as part of its newly launched “Partner for Growth” program, which is designed to transform how Danone works with its partners by seizing opportunities based on trends and insights to support mutual growth.

Danone Manifesto Ventures, the company’s corporate venture arm, will also contribute as it helps bring high-potential emerging brands, concepts and capabilities to the market.

“A structured, holistic and mutually beneficial approach will transform the way we work with partners, to take advantage of short-term opportunities and prepare our brands and categories for sustainable growth in the long-term,” says Vikram Agarwal, chief operating officer at Danone. 

“It will also help us leverage more from our supplier and partner ecosystem to drive shared business growth rather than using a traditional linear approach. It’s how we’ll stay ahead of emerging trends, better serve our customers and consumers and unlock sustainable growth.”

Enabling growth 
The program starts with three new partnerships and one joint business development plan signed with bioscience company Chr. Hansen. 

The Partner for Growth program is designed to drive greater innovation and efficiencies to unlock sustainable growth.This new plan will enable Danone to push the boundaries of innovation in the dairy and plant-based categories by using Chr. Hansen’s leading bio-solutions capabilities and leveraging both companies’ extensive culture collections.

Partner for Growth is focused on four pillars that will unlock growth for Danone and its partners: The first pillar is emerging science and technology, exploring and discovering breakthroughs across ingredients, agriculture, processes and packaging that will shape the future of food to meet consumer needs.

The next pillar is precision capacity creation, making its assets more flexible and smarter, combining the right technologies, supply security and global and local partners to better predict and respond to customer needs.

Another key pillar is cost competitiveness, using digital technology and a collective understanding of our end-to-end value chain to drive efficiencies, reduce waste and optimize logistics.

The final pillar is sustainability, driving performance and purpose through initiatives that increase the health benefits of Danone’s brands, decarbonize operations across the entire value chain, or help us operate more responsibly with employees, communities and partners.

Advancing new technologies 
Through collaboration with its partners, Danone can explore new horizons related to product superiority, new technologies in fermentation and decarbonization and find new solutions that benefit the company, its partners, consumers and the planet, underscores Isabelle Esser, chief research, innovation, quality and food safety officer at Danone. 

Meanwhile, Mauricio Graber, CEO at Chr. Hansen comments: “We innovate by unleashing the power of good bacteria. However, only in partnership can we truly transform the food system, enabling healthier living around the globe. We welcome Danone’s invitation to work even closer as partners on this important agenda.”

Danone hosted an in-person event with 50 suppliers at its innovation center in Paris Saclay as part of the program. 

At the event, Danone’s leadership team shared the growth plans for each of Danone’s core categories with potential partners. It celebrated existing Partner for Growth partnerships, including Arla Foods Ingredients for supplying specialty dairy ingredients, McCarthy Family Farms for pioneering regenerative agriculture practices, with Danone and Circulate Capital for projects to increase plastic collection and create plastic recycling capabilities.

Earlier this year, Danone Institute North America revealed it would provide up to US$260,000 in grants to support community-based initiatives focused on sustainability, health and nutrition.

Edited by Elizabeth Green

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