Danone reports nearly 6% growth, with emerging markets ‘brisk’

French dairy giant Danone’s chairman credits emerging markets for solid growth for the company of 5.9% in the first half of 2012. Franck Riboud notes, “‘The consumer environment definitely got tougher in Europe, particularly Southern Europe, in the first half of this year. At Danone, we moved quickly to manage this new situation in line with our strategic priorities: strengthening our brands and pursuing sustainable, profitable growth.
“Our first-half organic growth in sales stands at nearly 6%, in line with our full-year objectives. In the US and Russia, our Oikos and Prostokvashino brands are continuing to expand rapidly. In emerging markets, we are continuing to grow at a very brisk pace and are expanding our presence, as we did recently in Morocco and India. Finally, everywhere we operate we are innovating to offer consumers new experiences, adapted to their expectations; examples include Yolado in Spain and the renovation of Dumex in China. These initiatives and results testify to the commitment and determination of our Group and our teams. And they allow me to move into the second half with confidence.”