Danone to enter health products market

After its bitter battle with biscuit company Britannia Industries Ltd (BIL), French food major Groupe Danone is playing it safe in its second inning in the domestic market.
Six months after its settlement of disputes with BIL, the Paris-based MNC’s Indian subsidiary Danone India has made a quiet entry into the local diary market with its fortified chocolate milk making it to the shelves in Hyderabad. 

However, Jochen Ebert, general manager of Danone India, says his company is still studying the market and competitors to decide its moves in India.

“We have to see how it (chocolate milk) works. Honestly, we are watching the market and activities of our competitors. We are testing a lot (of our product) and searching the market for ideas that can work India,” he told DNA Money.

Two weeks back, the dairy company with brands such as Actimel and Activia that are very successful in the Europe, began test-marketing Choco Plus Milk in Hyderabad.
Ebert said it was too early to gauge the response of the market for the product but he said it would “definitely not be limited to Hyderabad.”

Danone's India head disclosed that the French company was looking at coming out with India-specific products, which would be in line its global strategy of “health through food.”
“We are developing healthy food products for India. We are looking at what our competitors are doing on this front. Indian consumer is unique and we will come out with relevant product for the India consumers,” Ebert said.

And with Danone following this strategy, it is sure of, at least, one thing. That is, it will not sell milk in pouches like rival Amul. “There will be no milk in pouches from us. Anything else but that,” Ebert said. The French food company currently sells products in four categories - fresh dairy, waters, baby nutrition and medical nutrition - and with growth in the western markets having peaked; it has turned attention to the emerging markets.
That is why India is important in the company's current scheme of things. Last year —2008 — emerging markets accounted for over 40% of the group's sales because they are growing at a faster pace than developed markets.