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Big interview A taste of the future
No company has had an easy 18 months – least of all Danone. Between boardroom putsches and sluggish profi ts, the French food and drink giant has had an even rockier pandemic than some of its rivals. But with a new fi nancial captain at the helm, could the company yet tack its way back to safer waters? With the climate crisis worsening by the day, moreover, can it fi nd a way of balancing its fi nances with its deep green credentials? Andrea Valentino chats to Juergen Esser, Danone’s incoming CFO, about how he’s fi ghting to make Danone a sustainability champion, how new technology can help hasten decision making – and how the successful multinational of tomorrow will lean into its environmental commitments more than ever.
I
n 1919, as Europe trembled from the disasters of World War I, the Spanish Flu raged, and the spectre of Bolshevism swept from Moscow to Berlin, Isaac Carasso hit upon a far gentler idea: the transformative power of yoghurt. A Jewish doctor, transplanted to Barcelona after war forced him from his native Greece, Carasso noticed that many children in his new home suffered from intestinal ailments.
Recalling the practices of his own childhood, Carasso wondered if sour milk could help. It could, but Carasso’s problem was that yoghurt was still unknown in Barcelona. Eager to convert a suspicious audience, he decided to name his new product after his son, carefully giving ‘Daniel’ a reassuringly Catalan twist. From these tender beginnings, of course, Danone has
grown into a culinary colossus. After perfecting the first industrial process for making yoghurt in the 1920s, Carasso and his successors haven’t looked back, now boasting a presence in over 100 markets and creating some of the most iconic brands around. If you’ve ever quaffed an Activia health drink, added Alpro oat milk to your cereal – or just grabbed a bottle of Evian at the airport – you’re buying products first inspired by Carasso’s revelation 102 years ago. Along the way, Danone has cultivated an image of bounding earnestness, bringing “health through food” to fitness fanatics and environmentalists alike. Lately, though, Danone has struggled. From boardroom coups to unimpressive growth, the Parisian company has felt squeezed – between its epic ideals
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Finance Director Europe /
www.ns-businesshub.com
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