Danone inaugurated Monday in the Paris region, in the presence of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, its new “lung”, a cutting-edge center to develop and test products that will feed consumers tomorrow – and the growth of the group.
Danone’s new boss since September 2021, Antoine de Saint-Affrique, gave the Prime Minister a tour of the vast wood and glass building, accompanied by three ministers: Sylvie Retailleau (Higher Education and Research), Marc Fesneau (Agriculture and Sovereignty food) and Roland Lescure (Industry).
Ms. Borne tasted a protein-enriched yogurt for athletes, developed in anticipation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games next year in Paris.
Roland Lescure suggested consuming it “for parliamentary marathons”, as the review of pension reform began in the National Assembly.
Danone, “at the forefront of agri-food innovation”
Ms. Borne said in a speech that Danone was “at the forefront of agri-food innovation”, “to seek not only what is effective, but what is better and sustainable”.
She also said that the group had “shown that work can and should have meaning, in particular by becoming the first listed company with a mission”.
This new center based on the Saclay plateau, south of Paris, will be “the lung of our international research ecosystem” alongside that of Utrecht in the Netherlands, said Antoine de Saint-Affrique.
The building notably houses the group’s library of ferments (essential for dairy products) “which has been enriched over the years” to reach 1,900 different strains, underlined the group’s general director of innovation research, Isabelle Esser, in front of journalists.
It also has a consumer center, to test innovations with them, as well as a 3,500 square meter mini-factory.
It allows “to model on a small scale what we will do later on a large scale”, described Mr. Saint-Affrique to AFP.
He took over as head of Danone, a group with 24 billion euros in annual sales, after an unprecedented governance crisis for the group, against a backdrop of shareholder revolt and internal divisions.
Antoine de Saint-Affrique’s mission is to relaunch growth and seeks to distinguish itself from the competition with “superior” products in taste and nutritional intake.