Danone's quick expansion in China
By Shangguan Zhoudong (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2007-06-15 15:43
Brief introduction
The Logo of French food giant Danone, December 2006.
Group Danone is one of the most famous food and beverage groups in the world with its headquarters in Paris and 90,000 staff members worldwide. Group Danone is a Global Fortune 500 company with a long history and large size. Danone develops its business across over 120 countries focusing on three core categories: fresh dairy products, biscuits (in which it ranks second worldwide) and beverages (in which it ranks first worldwide).
Founded in 1966, Danone has followed an active expansion strategy throughout the world since the 1990s. In less than 40 years, Danone has become a giant of the food industry, owning many famous international brands such as Danone, LU, Evian, and more.
Since the end of the 1980s, Danone began to develop the production and business in China extensively by investing in building factories. Now, the main business of Danone in China concerns yogurt, biscuits and beverages.
Danone has 70 factories in China, including Danone Biscuits (in Shanghai, Suzhou and Jiangmen), Robust (in Guangzhou), Wahaha (in Hang Zhou), and Health (in Shenzhen). The products are not only sold in China, but also exported to different countries.
Four brands under Danone
Danone: the leading brand worldwide for fresh dairy products; Danone represents almost 20 percent of the international market. Danone is present in 40 countries worldwide.
Evian: the best selling mineral water brand, with 1.5 billion bottles sold every year. Present in 125 countries across five continents.
Lu: the second brand worldwide, the first Biscuits brand of Groupe DANONE, which represents almost the half of the sales for the Biscuits and Cereal Products division. LU is mainly present in Western Europe.
Wahaha: the leading brand for refreshing still water (water, ready made tea, fruit juices). The brand is one of the most popular in China, with more than 1.5 billion liters of water sold each year. Its name means “the child who laughs.”
Danone in China
1. In 1987, Guangzhou Danone Yoghourt
Company was established
2. In 1994, Danone and Bright Dairy jointly launched
two yoghourts in Shanghai; Danone has 45.2 percent of these projects.
3. In
1996, Danone acquired 54.2 percent of Wuhan Dongxihu Beer (Group) Co Ltd, and
established five joint ventures with Wahaha Group; Danone holds 41 percent of
these joint ventures. During the financial crisis in Asia, Danone acquired the
shares of the Hong Kong-based company and became the biggest shareholder of
those companies, holding 51 percent. In 1996, Danone also bought 54.2 percent of
Shenzhen Health Food Co Ltd.
4. In 2000, Danone bought 92 percent of
Guangdong Robust Group.
5. In 2001, Danone Asia Pte Ltd purchased a 5 percent
stake in Bright Dairy.
6. In April 2006, Danone Asia Pte increased its stakes
in Bright Dairy, and became the third-biggest shareholder of the company. By the
end of April, 2006, Danone raise its ownership of Bright Dairy to 20.01
percent.
7. In July, 2006, Danone became the second-biggest shareholder of
Huiyuan Group. In February this year, Danone increased its stakes in the company
to 24.32 percent.
8. In December 2006, Danone formed joint ventures with
China Mengniu Dairy Co, in which it holds a 49 percent
stake.
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