Danone Announces Plans to Debut Vegan Yogurt

Multinational brand Danone recently revealed that it plans to add vegan yogurt options to its flagship dairy brands Activia and Actimel. According to media outlet Bloomberg, the dairy giant is “aiming to capitalize on the growth in veganism from niche diet to mainstream lifestyle choice.” Francisco Camacho, executive vice president of the dairy and plant-based division at Danone, predicted that amidst falling dairy sales, the non-dairy yogurt segment would continue to grow by 50 percent every year. “The intent is that any offering in which consumers would like to have a choice between dairy and plant-based alternatives,” a spokesperson for Danone said, “we should make it available because the consumer is looking for it.” In 2016, Danone announced its $12.5 billion acquisition of WhiteWave Foods, the parent company to a number of plant-based brands including Silk, Vega, So Delicious, and Alpro—a leader in the European plant-based category that has recorded double-digit sales in recent quarters.