Danone considers Africa to be the future of business models and an essential market due to its sizeable demographic potential.
The historical relationship between Danone and Africa began in 1953, growing from Morocco to Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia. Danone has also established its footprint in the west of the continent by acquiring Fam Milk and Kenyan company Brookside Dairy.
2020 data from AlphaValue shows that Danone employs 9,000 people across 40 African countries as producers and retailers. African sales account for seven percent of the company's global revenue, with the belief that this number will rise in upcoming years.
Danone's strategic focus on dairy products, such as fresh milk, UHT and fermented milk, cheeses, yoghurts, and milk powder, underscores its commitment to meeting local market needs. Furthermore, its plans to venture into cereals targeted at infants in Africa demonstrate the company's adaptability and responsiveness to evolving consumer preferences.
"Africa is the continent where we are going to create the business models of tomorrow," said Pierre-André Terisse, former general manager for Danone.
The multinational sees its presence in Africa as a place where the continent's specificities can inspire local innovation. These innovations could eventually be adapted to markets worldwide.
"The idea is that little by little, the size of Africa within Danone will increase, particularly the number of African managers, local innovations and regional organisations that will grow and impact the group beyond sales," stated Terisse.
Western-style development models showed their limits in protecting the environment while not being inclusive and generating mass employment. This prompted Danone to set up platforms to create businesses with a strong societal impact, impacting consumer health positively while relying on small farmers.
Partnerships within Africa will be needed to achieve the group's ambitions and limit imports from private players and governments.
Danone hopes to build on the success of producing local milk in Africa by collecting milk from 120,000 farmers in Morocco or 150,000 farmers in Kenya.
