Our Partnership with Groupe Danone
We have a unique partnership with Groupe Danone, the France-based consumer products company well-known for its biscuits, its Evian brand bottled water and its Dannon yogurt.
Between 2001 and 2003, Groupe Danone bought about 85% of our company shares. Typically, when big conglomerates buy smaller, organic or natural food companies (Kraft and Boca Burger; Nestle and Power Bar; Kellogg’s and Kashi; Unilever and Ben & Jerry's) the smaller company undergoes management changes. But Groupe Danone made no changes to our management team, and no changes to our company’s environmental and social missions.
Gary Hirshberg, who co-founded our company in the early ‘80s, is still our full-time president and “CE-Yo.” Through our Profits for the Planet program, we still give 10% of our profits to environmental causes. Our milk still comes from New England and Midwest dairy farmers through the St. Albans and CROPP cooperatives. We still use the very best environmental practices we can find. And we’re still as committed as ever to increasing the number of organic family farms in the world.
Groupe Danone has brought a lot of new knowledge and talent to our company. Our partner is helping us manage our rapid growth by sharing its expertise in food research, production, operations, logistics and distribution. On the other hand, the partnership allows Groupe Danone to participate in the organic and natural dairy business, which is growing at a rate rarely seen in the food industry.
In Groupe Danone, we’ve found a partner that provides cost-saving efficiencies and growth opportunities, while allowing us to manage ourselves autonomously and remain true to our mission.
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