Better Products
We continuously improve our products’ nutritional profile
Danone's portfolio is mainly composed of healthy categories of products (90% of sales in volumes in 2021).
Our definition of "healthy categories" is well in accordance with an externally recognized reference, the Health Star Rating System (HSR) used, among others, by ATNI. Here is for instance the result of a recent benchmark we did, excluding the Specialized Nutrition products that are not part of ATNI scope, and excluding plant-based products that were not yet included in our reporting system in 2019.
Given the healthy nature of our portfolio, a significant part of our sales volumes does not require nutritional improvement, for instance water, that represents about two-thirds of Danone sales in volumes. For the remaining part, we have an approach of continuous nutritional improvement through step-by-step reformulation.
We look at each product in an integral way, defining minimum levels for the nutrients to encourage and reducing the content of the nutrients to limit, aiming at improving the global nutritional profile of the product: target values are defined on all key nutrients that are relevant in each category. They were published for the first time in December 2016 and then were updated in 2019, 2021, and 2023. The 2023 edition of our Nutritional Targets are used by our business units as a benchmark for innovation and renovation.
We make all efforts to always keep consumer acceptance and preference. A drastic change in any product’s formula could lead to rejection of our products, and in our competitive environment, a possible switch to less healthy alternatives. That is why Danone has an approach of continuous improvement through step-by-step reformulation, taking into account at all steps the local competitive context and the consumer expectations in terms of taste profile.
Another way of improving the nutritional quality of our portfolio is through innovation and the launch of new healthy products. In 2018-2019, our EDP and Waters businesses together have launched around 1,500 new products in healthy categories.
AT END 2019 : 82% OF OUR SALES VOLUMES ARE COMPLIANT with OUR NUTRITIONAL TARGETS 2020
Communication to children
For children under 12 years of age, research has also shown that marketing and advertising can influence their purchasing behavior and short-term eating habits.