Danone Cuts Dairy Ad Budget to Focus on Plants

The yogurt giant is restructuring to spend less on dairy advertising and shift focus on new plant-heavy acquisition WhiteWave.


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During last week’s 2016 annual results conference, multinational dairy brand Danone’s CFO Cecile Cabanis revealed the company would cut $1 billion in spending over the next three years, particularly in its advertising budget. Rising milk prices, reduced dairy demand, and unfavorable conditions for Danone’s products in China motivated the budget cut. Late last year, Danone paid $10.6 billion for its acquisition of food company WhiteWave—parent company of plant-based brands Silk, So Delicious, and Vega. Once the deal is finalized, Danone CEO Emmanuel Faber plans to restructure the company’s plan for growth. Faber expects the company to gain “strong, profitable, and sustainable growth” by 2020, driven in part by its plant-based acquisition, which according to dairy industry media outlet Dairy Herd, “should boost earnings.” Last week, WhiteWave released its annual earnings report wherein the company revealed that its total net sales were more than $4.2 million in 2016, a nine percent increase from last year.