Danone sales up but dairy suffers
French dairy giant Danone has reported its 2014 sales as being up 4.7% on a like-for-like basis, and predicts organic growth of 4-5% for 2015. The fourth quarter also saw sales improvement of 7.5%. However, its volume growth in fresh dairy dipped by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, while early life nutrition saw gains of 11.5%. Fresh dairy continues to be the largest sector for Danone, but early life nutrition is gaining as a proportion of sales. Danone seems to have felt the impact of the Russian embargo, with its sales falling by 8% in the CIS and North America for the last quarter.
“2014 was a critical year for Danone, with a number of major transformations aimed at preparing our company for the future. In particular, we outline the key points of Danone 2020, our roadmap to a new stage in development,” notes Franck Riboud, chairman of Danone.
The CEO of Danone Emmanuel Faber adds, “We made significant progress in many markets, especially in Europe where a combined focus on updating our product lines and raising our competitive edge are beginning to pay off. We also continued to build our portfolio and expand in high growth markets, particularly in Asia and Africa.”