Danone India announces aggressive plans to grow its Nutrition business

Danone, a global food company with a mission ‘to bring health through food to as many people as possible’, announced plans to strengthen its Nutrition business in India starting with the launch of its globally popular Infant formula brand Aptamil. With a strong presence in 45 countries worldwide, Aptamil has been developed taking into consideration the nutritional needs of infants and is inspired by several decades of breast milk research. . It contains a special nutrient that supports brain and eye development in infants. These nutrients are also required to support the developing immunity of infants.

Commenting about the launch, Mr. Rodrigo Lima, Managing Director, Danone India said, “The introduction of Aptamil range in India is a landmark step since this is the first time we are bringing our global infant formula products range to India.We have aggressive plans to introduce many new products in India this year to strengthen our Nutrition portfolio. At Danone we ensure that our products are tailored to meet the nutritional needs of different consumer groups, based on the latest science and local nutritional insights.”

He added, “For us Make in India is central to our growth strategy and Aptamil will also be manufactured in India at our world class facility at Lalru, Punjab.  We have invested over Rs 150 cr to upgrade the machinery at this plant that we acquired from Wockhardt in 2012.”

As a leading Nutrition company with a focus on health, Danone believes that the right nutrition in the first 1,000 days – from the moment of conception to two years of age – positively influences short and long-term health outcomes. Danone supports the WHO’s global public health recommendation calling for exclusive breast feeding for the first six months of age and continued breast feeding up to two years and beyond, combined with the safe introduction of appropriate complementary foods.

Designed to provide the best nutrition at each stage of life, the focus of Danone is to manufacture products that are relevant to India, combined with the international expertise of Danone in the fields of research & development, product & brand innovation. In line with Danone’s global culture and values, Danone India combines its business ambition with attention to its impact on the eco-system.

Danone engages with farmers in Punjab through a Program on Sustainable dairy farming to improve the quality of milk and ensure a sustainable supply of good quality milk.