Danone’s Water Sales Up Significantly

Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber said several factors contributed to a three percent rise in the company’s share price and signified continued growth. Among the factors were the premiumization of Danone’s offering in early childhood nutrition in China, broad-based growth in waters, and gradual improvement in essential dairy and plant-based activities. The water business, which includes the Evian brand, experienced a four percent rise in sales, but dairy sales in Europe, though improving, still dropped 0.3 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Faber said demand for baby formulas in China – fed by a sharp rise in birth rates – helped boost like-for-like sales by almost five percent.