Danone S.A. Case Study
About Company
Danone S.A. is a France-based transnational food-products conglomerate headquartered in Paris. In 1919, Danone came into existence in Barcelona, Spain. The company is registered on Euronext Paris. It forms a constituent of the CAC 40 stock market index there. Certain merchandise of the firm is marketed with the Dannon label in the US.
As of 2018, the organization marketed goods in one hundred and twenty marketplaces, and in the same year, its sales reached €24.65 billion. During the first six months of 2018, the sales figures were as follows:
- Specialized dietetic cuisines generated 29% of sales
- Branded drinking water generated 19%
- Flora-oriented and dairy goods (comprising yogurt) generated 52%
What type of company is Danone S.A.?
Danone S.A. is a Société Anonyme or a form of a limited company.
To which industry does Danone belong?
Danone belongs to the food processing industry.
When did Danone come into existence?
The company started operating in Barcelona, Spain in 1919. This was 104 years back.
Who is the originator of the French company?
The originator of the firm is Isaac Carasso, a Spanish-French-Turkish entrepreneur.
Where is the headquarters of the company situated?
Danone S.A. has its functional central office in Boulevard Haussmann, 9th arrondissement, Paris, France. Since 2002, it has been situated in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
The worldwide headquarters of the company is based in Hoofddorp, Netherlands.
Who are the key individuals behind the impressive growth of Danone over the years?
The people who have passionately contributed towards the development of the company over the years are the following:
- Gilles Schnepp, Chairman
- Franck Riboud, Honorary Chairman
- Antoine Bernard de Saint-Affrique, Chief Executive Officer
What are the products offered by Danone?
The company offers the products listed below:
- Coffee
- Baby food
- Dairy-free items
- Dairy foodstuffs
- Nutritional add-ons
- Bottled drinking water
How many people does Danone employ?
As of 2019, the company has 102,449 employees.
Which companies are the proprietors of Danone S.A.?
The proprietors of the firm are the following:
- BlackRock (5.9%)
- MFS Investment Management (8.3%)
What is the name of the subsidiary of Danone?
The subsidiary’s name is Danone North America.
Timeline
Isaac Carasso (birth name İzak Karasu), established Danone. The originator of the company was a Sephardic Jewish doctor born in Salonica from the Ottoman Empire. In 1919, he started yogurt manufacturing in Barcelona, Spain.
He decided to label the product as Danone, which interprets as little Daniel. The name originated from Daniel Carasso, his kid’s name.
In 1929, Carasso shifted the firm to France from Spain, inaugurating a site in Paris. Subsequently, Daniel shifted the organization to New York In 1942. Carasso joined hands with Juan Metzger, the Swiss-origin Spaniard in the US, and the trade name got modified to Dannon to noise more US-oriented.
In 1951, Carasso came back to Paris to supervise his kin’s trades in Spain and France, and in 1959 Beatrice Foods took over the US-based enterprise. However, Danone re-bought it in 1981.
In 1967, in Europe, Danone amalgamated with Gervais, the top fresh cheese maker in France. Later, the fused entity turned into Gervais Danone. In 1973, another amalgamation took place involving Gervais Danone and BSN, the bottle manufacturer. In 1983, the firm got the new name of Groupe Danone.
Disputes
Danone has stirred several controversies and some of the key controversies among them are as follows:
- The PepsiCo acquisition matter in 2005-2006
- From 2010-2013, there were some unscrupulous promotional activities of baby formula in India, Turkey, Indonesia, and China
- Clostridium botulinum contamination issue in four Danone sites in the Asia-Pacific region. There were reports in 2013 that consignments of ingredients provided by Fonterra might have contagion. Consequently, there were recalls of baby food items from selling in 8 marketplaces (Singapore, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Cambodia). This took place as a preventive step. Nonetheless, the New Zealand government absolved Danone of all charges. It won compensation and ended its agreement with Fonterra.
Corporate administration
A chairman and CEO together with a board of directors heads the France-based food processing behemoth. As of April 26, 2018, the sixteen members comprising the Board of Directors are:
- Franck Riboud – Honorary Chairman
- Antoine de Saint-Affrique – CEO
- Frédéric Boutebba
- Guido Barilla
- Gregg L. Engles
- Cécile Cabanis
- Michel Landel
- Clara Gaymard
- Benoît Potier
- Gaëlle Olivier
- Jean-Michel Severino
- Isabelle Seillier
- Bettina Theissig
- Virginia A. Stallings
- Lionel Zinsou-Derlin
- Serpil Timuray
As of 2021, the executive committee members are listed below:
- Juergen Esser (Chief Technology, Financial, and Data Officer)
- Antoine de Saint-Affrique (Chief Executive Officer)
- Bertrand Austruy (Chief Human Resources Officer)
- Laurent Sacchi (General Secretary)
- Vikram Agarwal (Chief Operating Officer, end-to-end design to supply)
- Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta (Chief Executive Officer Overseas)
- Nigyar Makhmudova (Chief Development Officer)
- Shane Grant (Chief Executive Officer North America)
- Floris Wesseling (Europe President)
- Henri Bruxelles (Chief Strategic Business Development and Sustainability Officer)
Principal brands
The product portfolio of Danone incorporates both local brands and multinational brands. The multinational brands under Danone in 2018 comprised the following:
- Actimel
- Activia
- Aptamil
- Alpro
- Danimals
- Danette
- Dannon
- Danio
- Evian
- Danonino
- Nutrilon
- Nutricia
- Volvic
The local or domestic brands consisted of the following:
- Blédina – France
- AQUA – Indonesia
- Cow & Gate – UK
- Bonafont – Brazil and Mexico
- Horizon Organic – USA
- Happy Family – USA
- Oikos – Chile, North America
- Mizone – Indonesia and China
- Silk – USA
- Prostokvashino – Russia
- And Damavand – Iran
Proprietorship
The proprietorship of Danone is divided as follows:
- US-based investors own 43% of the shares
- French investors own 19% of the shares
- The UK-based investors own 10% of the shares
- German investors own 5%
- Swiss investors own 6%
- The remainder of Europe owns 17%
Joint ventures/collaborations
In particular regions, Danone assumes a tactic of development via collaborations or joint ventures, specifically in fast-developing nascent marketplaces which constitute more than 50% of its revenue.
Danone inked joint ventures and collaborations with the following:
- In 2001 – Saudi Arabia (Al Safi)
- Yakult – in Vietnam (2006) and In India (2005)
- In 2007 – Alquería (Colombia)
- In 2013–2014 – Mengniu (China)
Danone Institute – The philanthropic aspect of the company
The Danone Institute is a non-profit seeking establishment set up to boost study, data, and didactics regarding nourishment, dieting, and community health. One of the principal aims of the establishment was to raise nourishment awareness among healthcare experts, instructors, and blood relations.
In 1991, the organization launched its initial institution in Paris, France. It formally introduced the setup as a privately-run not-for-profit establishment in 1997.
Danone corporate executives and diet professionals head the establishment.
Danone Institutes across the globe
By 2007, the company had established eighteen organizations in nations across the world for building up plans that deal with neighborhood community health concerns. The establishments are situated in the following nations:
- Canada
- Belgium
- The Czech Republic
- China
- Germany
- France
- Israel
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Italy
- Poland
- Mexico
- Spain
- Russia
- Turkey
- and the United States
All these establishments function under the auspices of the Danone Institute International.
Overall, the Danone Institute International has the responsibility for guiding the network and supporting a persistent switchover between the different nations.
Presently, over 200 professionals from the diet and nutrition field are participating in this global scheme.
Every establishment consists of a technical committee and a board of directors. Every board incorporates eight members. They have the responsibility of determining the tactical guidance and financial plan for the establishment. The technological committee which consists of six to ten members takes upcoming step-by-step resolutions.
The establishments design academic curricula in their particular nations for handling regional diets and health hazards. Consequently, every establishment formulates its individual agenda to facilitate pertinence in its surroundings. For example, the Danone Institute in the Czech Republic offers a sponsorship to underpin exploration, progress, and academics in nourishment, and erudition overseas.
Danone International Prize for Nutrition – A noble endeavor
The Danone International Prize for Nutrition is a prize that the Danone Institute International launched in 1997. It is conferred biennially for admiring persons or groups that have helped in the progress of the discipline of human nourishment. The list of prize winners over the years is as follows (Source of the news: Danone International):
- 1997 – Vernon R. Young
- 1999 Leif Hallberg – He won this award for his contribution to iron metabolism
- 2001 – Alfred Sommer and his group from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, for his contribution towards research on Vitamin A insufficiency
- 2003 – Ricardo Bressani, due to his lifetime dedication to capitalize on the knowledge of the dietary perspective and restrictions of regional staple foods
- 2005 – David J. P. Barker. Barker served as an epidemiologist at the Heart Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, US, and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Division Research Center of Southampton University, UK for the Barker Early Origins Hypothesis. This is recognized as the thrifty phenotype hypothesis or the fetal origins hypothesis as well.
- 2007 – Jeffrey M. Friedman, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Rockefeller University; for studies on the function of leptin and genetics. Friedman discovered leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in body-weight control.
- 2009 – Johan Auwerx of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. He attained this award for his exploration of molecular nourishment.
- 2011 – Jeffery I. Gordon of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. He received this award for his stupendous role in a research project on the human intestine microbiome, nutrition, and dietary condition.
- 2013 – Gökhan S. Hotamisligil of Harvard School of Public Health. He won this award for his brilliant work in metabolic ailments and immunology.
- 2016 – Philip Calder. Calder received this award for his exceptional research on diet and immunity.
Danone S.A. stock performance
The common stocks of the firm are traded with the following ticker symbol:
- Euronext Paris: BN
Also, the stock is a constituent of the CAC 40 index.
On April 3, 2023, Danone S.A. (BN.PA) closed trading at the Euronext Paris stock exchange at € 57.94 with the data given below at 05:38 pm CEST (Central European Summer Time).
Stock chart
| Day’s Open | € 57.31 |
| Previous Close | € 57.31 |
| Intraday High | € 58.02 |
| Intraday Low | € 57.21 |
| 52-week Range | € 46.75 – € 58.14 |
| 1-day change | € +0.63 (+1.10%) |
| Price (Closing) | € 57.94 |
| Volume traded | 1,291,454 |
| Ask | 0.00 x 0 |
| Bid | 0.00 x 0 |
| Average volume | 1,474,156 |
| Earnings Per Share (Trailing 12 Months) | € 1.50 |
| Market capitalization | € 37.059 Billion |
| Price Earning Ratio (Trailing 12 Months) | 38.63 |
| Earnings date | Feb 22, 2023 |
| One-year target estimate | € 58.50 |
| Beta (5-Year Monthly) | 0.48 |
| Ex-dividend date | May 9, 2023 |
| Forward dividend and yield | € 2.00 (3.49%) |
Danone S.A.’s financial performance
| Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) | 2021 | 2020 |
| Net Sales | € 24.3 Billion | € 23.62 Billion |
| LFL Sales Growth | +3.4% | -1.5% |
| Free Cash-Flow | €2.5 Billion | €2.1 Billion |
| Recurring Operating Margin | 13.74% | 14.00% |
| Net debt/EBITDA | 3x | 2.8x |
| ROIC | 8.7% | 8.5% |
| Dividend per share | €1.94 | €1.94 |
| E-commerce | +16% vs LY (10% of overall revenue) | +40% vs LY (symbolizing 10% of overall revenue) |
Corporate social responsibility
Antoine Riboud, the erstwhile Chief Executive Officer of Danone, had a significant sway on the corporate social responsibility campaigns of the organization. A speech that he delivered in this regard on October 25, 1972, is dubbed the Marseilles speech. The various funds and sponsorships run by the company include the following:
- Danone communities – formed in 2007
- Danone Ecosystem Fund – established in 2009
- Livelihoods – Formed in 2011
About Author
