Dannon rolls out sweeping ingredient changes to its products
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- Dannon is joining other consumables brands in trying to appeal to evolving consumer preferences by bringing big ingredient changes to all of its products.
The brand announced Thursday that new yogurts with non-GMO ingredients are available for the first time from Dannon. Dannon says this is the beginning of the transformation of the company's Danimals, Oikos and Dannon brands, which over time will evolve to contain non-GMO ingredients to add more choices to the most diverse range of yogurts available in the U.S.
Additionally, all Dannon products in the U.S. that have GMO ingredients will be clearly labeled as such, independent of actions taken (or not) by the federal government. Starting in 2017 and completing the transformation by the end of 2018, Dannon will go one step further to ensure that the cows that supply Dannon's milk for these three flagship brands will be fed non-GMO feed, a first for a leading non-organic yogurt maker. This will involve the conversion of an estimated 80,000 acres of farmland to produce non-GMO crops in order to provide non-GMO feed for the milk used to make Dannon, Oikos and Danimals brand products.
"Shoppers are our main ingredient, and what is important to them drives what we do. For this reason, the range of products we make is evolving to provide even more choices," said Mariano Lozano, CEO, Dannon. "Transparency is the key word for this shift. To show to our consumers that in order to make a real choice, we need clear labels, today we are making a bold change and candidly discussing how transparency from brands is essential for shoppers to make real choices."
The increased transparency in labeling is among the first steps in the Dannon Pledge, a public commitment announced earlier this year to provide shoppers with more options. In the Pledge, Dannon commits to further improving sustainable agriculture practices around its milk supply, increasing transparency of its portfolio of products, and evolving to more natural and fewer ingredients for its flagship Dannon, Danimals and Oikos brands, which account for approximately half of the company's sales. To build awareness for its efforts, Dannon launched a new social media campaign this month featuring "straight talk" from moms about why choice matters.
"Choosing to purchase foods with fewer or more natural ingredients, or with or without GMO ingredients, is an important individual decision, and we feel strongly that people have the right to know how companies are making food. This is just the first of many steps towards our continued transparency and one that we hope others will follow," said Lozano. "And we're not just doing this alone. Dannon is proud to have the support of the Non-GMO Project, Green America and Just Label It."
Beginning in early 2017, Dannon will go one step further by working with feed suppliers and its farmer partners to start planting non-GMO feed to fulfill its pledge that the cows that supply milk for the company's three flagship brands will be fed non-GMO feed, a first for a leading non-organic yogurt maker. This is slated to be completed by the end of 2018. Once these changes are implemented, these products from the three brand families will contain milk from cows fed only non-GMO feed.
Dannon has been and is continuing to implement animal welfare practices at its farmer partners' operations via the Validus Certification system. Now, more than 90% of Dannon's direct milk supply comes from farms that are Validus Certified.