Danone to boost dairy

FRANCE – Danone said this week that it wants to boost the sales of its dairy products by 10% by focussing on emerging markets, including Russia.

The company said that it aims to develop its brands to become a leader in countries where it has operations.

Just last week, Russian dairy group Wimm-Bill-Dann admitted that it is in takeover talks with Danone following weeks of speculation. Danone currently controls 16% of the Russian dairy market, and has said that it wants to increase this to 20% by 2006. Rumours have also suggested that Danone is interested in increasing its stake in Yakult, in which it recently increased its share to 19%.