Make In India Week: Danone India Outlines Their Approach To The Make In India Campaign

The Make In India week, being held in Mumbai has seen a variety of doors being opened in the food processing sector in India. A few days ago, ITC announced that it would be investing Rs.800 crore in Odisha to construct and operate a food park and a hotel.

Following that, in a sector seminar on opportunities in food processing, Laurent Marcel, the Managing Director of Danone India outlined the benefits the Make In India campaign will have on food processing in the country as well as Danone’s steps taken to participate in the campaign.

A Bit About Danone

Since it began selling in India in 2010, Danone found many loyal consumers of its dairy products which include flavoured yogurts, smoothies and products tuned to the Indian palate like mishti doi, chaas and lassi.

Danone also spearheads a range of nutrition products under the name Nutricia which is known for brands like Protinex, Dexolac and Farex each of which aim to cater to nutritional needs at a specific stage of life.

Marcel’s Talk on Danone India

In his role as the speaker for the seminar, Marcel commented “The food processing industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in the world, and in India particularly it represents a large opportunity…India has unique assets to become a champion in the food processing sector: a rich and diverse agriculture, a large domestic market open to innovation, a culture of entrepreneurs, a broad and competitive workforce, a tradition of democracy, inclusive growth and together this will help accelerate growth of the food sector.”

 On Danone India’s approach to Make In India he said “Our Make in India experience in the last few years has been very positive. Danone’s Make in India agenda has a two pronged approach, focusing on ‘Innovate in India’ and ‘manufacture high quality products in India’. To make top quality products in India, we have invested significantly in our manufacturing and sourcing capacity. To innovate in India we have we have invested in local R&D facilities, and designed local recipes specifically tailored for Indian tastes and nutritional needs. In the last 3 years, we have made large investments to install milk coolers, quality control infrastructure, and implemented training programs with farmers. With our program called Academilk, we have trained more than 3,000 farmers to good dairy practices. We believe these initiatives towards the dairy farming sector are an integral part of a successful and responsible Make in India journey.”

Innovations From Danone

In accordance with their ‘Innovate in India’ approach, Danone India recently launched their ready-to-eat custard in vanilla flavour available in 900 ml family pack and a 200 ml trial pack.

With this launch, Danone India gives Indian consumers another dessert option in their portfolio, along with their popular mishti doi.