Last night, I had the privilege to sit down at a dinner with the leaders of Danone Water. Rarely have I met business people with such a passion for their work. The reason is very simple. As Danone employees, they are not just in the business of selling yogurt or mineral water. More importantly, they are in a social enterprise, involved in the global mission of sharing life-sustaining knowledge and resources with people in less fortunate countries. Specifically, I want to highlight the Danone Communities initiative, how it works, and why it is such a great sustainability model for other companies. Here, is a description, from the company’s website:
Produced in the first Grameen Danone Foods plant in Bogra, Shoktidoi is sold at a price of 5 BDT for each portion of 80g (ie 6 euro cents) and can be bought regularly by even the poorest families. At the same time, its composition has been specially designed to make up for the nutritional deficiencies that many Bangladeshi children suffer from. Reduced from cow’s milk produced locally and date molasses, Shoktidoi contains the natural calcium proteins needed for growth and bone solidity. Also enriched in micronutrients, an 80 gram pot is enough to cover 30% of daily needs for a child in vitamin A , iron, zinc and iodine.
In the Bogra plant, use of machinery is kept to a minimum in order to promote the use of labour which should mean that the plant will be able to employ 50 full-time workers within four years. Grameen Danone foods also relies on developing micro-farms which supply the raw materials (milk, sugar, date molasses) used to produce Shoktidoi. Local farmers also benefit from micro-credits offered by the Grameen Bank to start up or expand their businesses, while DANONE provides its expertise to help farmers improve the quality of their production. Lastly, Grameen Danone Foods has created an original distribution system based on the so-called “Grameen Ladies” who, supplied by small wholesalers, make sales door-to-door. This activity should provide income to more than 1,600 persons within a radius of 30 km around the plant.
Protection of the environment for local communities and use of renewable energy are part of the community business model developed by Grameen Danone Foods. The Bogra plant for example has a solar water heater which supplies hot water used in cleaning the installation and preheating water for the main boilers.
To reduce the risk of depleting groundwater levels, the site has also been equipped with a rainwater recovery system. Both of these measures help mitigate the environmental impact of the project but also the energy bill for the company! In terms of recycling and packaging, Grameen Danone has also made firm commitments: Shoktidoi pots are produced with PLA (Poly Lactic Acid), a material made of cornstarch and entirely biodegradable.
I was also told by the Danone people that all Danone employees get a chance to participate in the company’s funding of the Grameen initiative. No wonder the Danone people feel so good about working there. Can you think of examples of other companies whose stories you find inspiring?
Thank You to Danone
Although I’m not familiar with the overall Danone approach or business or with the details of this particular initiative, it sounds GREAT from the description. Congrats and thanks to the Danone folks!
Regarding other examples, well, I’d like to offer an unfortunate counter-example, at least on a “macro” level: ExxonMobil.
I’m tempted to write a whole essay on the matter, but I don’t want to clog the blog. (Although, if it fits the overall theme and direction of LaMarguerite, I’d be happy to do a longer post on ExxonMobil some day.)
Anyhow, trying to stay positive, I’ll just repeat my thanks to Danone.
Cheers.
Jeff, I would love to read what you have to say about ExxonMobil. Counter examples are good too . . .
Is “Danone Water” responsible for brands like Evian, or is this a wholly different part of the Danone Group?
I’m really hoping for the day when bottled water will be gone.
Sustainability initiatives are all cute and such, but if it’s paid for by such a wasteful business (that is, bottled water), I’m not really sure if they are the right party for doing this kind of thing.
Some background: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html
On the positive side, this example shows that employees like to work at socially and environmentally responsible companies. This has been known longer of course.
Yes, they manage the Evian and Volvic water brands. There is a lot I could write about the current bottled water debate.
First, I see it as a cultural issue. Ask the French, and they will talk very differently about bottled waters, than let’s say Americans. For a French person like me, mineral waters are not just regular water from the tap. Each water tastes different, and has different mineral properties. I for instance prefer Volvic and Badoit waters. No one disputes bottled Coca-Cola or fruit juices.
Now, if we say that all bottled drinks are bad, then, that is another story, and I can buy that logic.
Sounds scarily similar to the Nestle breast-milk substitute scam in Africa. What food sources will this product be replacing? Will it really have the balance that it claims to have? What about those who produced the replaced food sources? And what happens when the company decides that it’s not making enough money, and either pulls out, or ups the prices?
This doesn’t sound like a systematic approach to helping people. It sounds like whitewash. The problem with any corporate “initiative” like this is that the corporations motives are ALWAYS (in this order):
1. Make Money
2. Increase market share, through PR, to improve 1.
….
#. Actually make a positive change in the world.
Water is undisputably a healthy drink. Until such a time there is a faucet (fountain) on every street corner producing safe and high quality water on demand then why should we cast it as a villain simply because it is a packaged commodity. Water is essential for hydration, contains nutrients and is sold in shops as an alternative to soft drinks (some sugary!) or alcohol (some not to good for your liver hey!). No one in the bottled water industry is suggesting that bottled water should replace tap water so why do others state this? At the same time, when you’re on the go, travelling, exercising etc, bottled water happens to be a great idea as its portable and it offers guaranteed water purity. Surely it’s ultimately down to the consumer to decide what they drink, not environmental activists. Bottled water companies already lead the way in water savings (compare other beverages such as alcoholic drinks or other industries including petrochemical, manufacturing and agriculture before casting the first stone at the non alcoholic drinks industry). And, earlier comments in this thread ignore what is already being done (and is being planned) by the packaged water industry to encourage recycling (PET and glass are fully recyclable), to reduce packaging (lightweighting), to reduce energy consumption and limit so-called food miles. American consumers tend to be hung up on the ‘tap water v bottled water’ debate. And in the future – with global warming – we’ll need more bottled water not less. For example, bottled water has been vital to those who have no access to clean water (be that in the US or other parts of the world when there are floods and hurricanes etc or in the developing world at times of drought and poverty alleviation). So let’s not be silly and see things simply as being black or white!
Thanks all for the beginning of a healthy debate.
I know for a fact that the Danone people are going to extraordinary lengths to make their products more sustainable, and are considering the entire lifecycle of those products for all product decisions.
I also agree that, independent from personal taste preferences for mineral water, there is as the last reader states, a definite need for portable water in many parts of the world, at least right now.
This being said, I make a personal effort to NOT drink bottled water water or any other bottled drink for that matter, whenever I can. Instead I drink tea or purified water from my tap at home. I reserve bottled mineral water for special occasions, as in going out to the restaurants for a special meal.
Part of the problem, lie in the fact, at least here in the United States, that people equate bottled water with regular tap water, and imply that people choosing bottled water are simply too lazy to carry their own containers of tap water from home. If that is the case, and people indeed do not care about mineral or tap water, then I would agree that they should try as much as possible to carry their own water. The same way they should not drive, nor leave their computers turned on, nor eat red meat, nor use their dryers, etc . . . You get the picture!
Bottled water has become the scapegoat for a much larger problem.
And no, I am not being paid by the bottled water industry . . . I just like debates to be fair and well informed.
[...] I kind of knew, but did not expect I would get into so much controversy with my recent post about Danone Water. Bottled water still is a hot topic in the environmental blogosphere . . . As evidenced by this [...]
I recognise that the bottled water debate can be complicated, that there are many less healthy consumables that come in bottles and that perceptions of and needs for water vary widely internationally.
However, I would be interested to know if Danone Water are looking to use corn based polymers for their own brands, since Grameen Danone Foods are using PLA in Bangladesh.
Belu water in the UK has produced the first entirely compostable bottled water and, as a social enterprise, 100% of their profits are spent on sustainable water projects, mostly in the developing world. This is a long way from being either ‘profit motivated greenwash’ or ’scapegoating’.
Thanks Daniel, for your comment. I did ask the Danone people about using PLA for their bottles. This is one of their top priorities. They are deep into the technology and seeing how that can be done. Again, I have no part in the Danone enterprise, but I can say for a fact, these are very committed folks, genuinely into making the world a better place. Truly remarkable.