How do you value the relationship between Danone and Sidel?
Sidel has been a reliable and trusted partner of Danone Waters ever since the middle 1980s, when we started to adopt PET to bottle our beverage products.
What we appreciate is Sidel’s flexibility and readiness to come forward with innovation proposals - giving us not only more speed and efficiency in filling, but also more options and combinations in areas like capping, printing, and labelling. Recently we have been working closely on a wide-ranging program to optimise and gain productivity across our installed base. We’ve also been looking together at the future, for example, at a potential business case for returnable bottles.
Are consumers embracing Danone’s claim that “each time we eat and drink, we can vote for the world we want to live in”?
I would say, absolutely yes. At Danone, we are always adjusting our portfolio, and seeking to adapt to changing consumer habits and expectations. And we see now a new generation of ‘flexitarian’ consumers, ready to be more radical in their choices and their diets. Since 2017, Danone has taken a leading position in the fast-growing plant-based category in North America and in Europe, allowing us to accelerate our own food revolution. Our healthier aquadrinks category - now representing 1/3 of our Water division’s sales - is a key part of this journey, and our consumers are inspiring us to innovate more boldly there.
What challenges do you face in term of innovation, to fulfil the mission “to bring health through food to as many people as possible”?
The innovation landscape has never been so exciting, in my view. In the beverage space, consumers are asking for flavours from herbs and plants as well as fruits - even coffee. They want cold brews and infusions, and ferments. In waters, they look for light or strong sparkling, or enriched with minerals and electrolytes. The good news is that many people want more taste but less sweetness. The switch to healthier drinking habits is at the heart of our aquadrinks proposition. More choices bring us more consumers, so everyone wins. Our biggest challenge, in my view, is mastering the very rapid pace of innovation.
Does plastic have a long-term future as a sustainable, competitive form of packaging?
PET packaging is light, safe and durable, and it allows companies like ours to deliver products in perfect condition right into the hands of consumers. What is more, the packaging we use for waters and beverages is designed for maximum recyclability. The problem with plastic packaging is not how we use it, but how as a society we dispose of it. It is waste - whether on land or in the oceans. This is at the heart of the plastics debate. At Danone we have been inspired by the ideas and the advocacy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, to seek ways to build a truly circular economy of packaging, where everything is recycled as a valuable resource, and nothing goes to waste or into nature. And we have made public commitments to achieve this goal, for example, by launching recycling initiatives in all major markets, and to support the EU goal of collecting 90% of beverage plastic bottles for recycling by 2029.
How do you value the relationship between Danone and Sidel?
Sidel has been a reliable and trusted partner of Danone Waters ever since the middle 1980s, when we started to adopt PET to bottle our beverage products.
What we appreciate is Sidel’s flexibility and readiness to come forward with innovation proposals - giving us not only more speed and efficiency in filling, but also more options and combinations in areas like capping, printing, and labelling. Recently we have been working closely on a wide-ranging program to optimise and gain productivity across our installed base. We’ve also been looking together at the future, for example, at a potential business case for returnable bottles.
Are consumers embracing Danone’s claim that “each time we eat and drink, we can vote for the world we want to live in”?
I would say, absolutely yes. At Danone, we are always adjusting our portfolio, and seeking to adapt to changing consumer habits and expectations. And we see now a new generation of ‘flexitarian’ consumers, ready to be more radical in their choices and their diets. Since 2017, Danone has taken a leading position in the fast-growing plant-based category in North America and in Europe, allowing us to accelerate our own food revolution. Our healthier aquadrinks category - now representing 1/3 of our Water division’s sales - is a key part of this journey, and our consumers are inspiring us to innovate more boldly there.
What challenges do you face in term of innovation, to fulfil the mission “to bring health through food to as many people as possible”?
The innovation landscape has never been so exciting, in my view. In the beverage space, consumers are asking for flavours from herbs and plants as well as fruits - even coffee. They want cold brews and infusions, and ferments. In waters, they look for light or strong sparkling, or enriched with minerals and electrolytes. The good news is that many people want more taste but less sweetness. The switch to healthier drinking habits is at the heart of our aquadrinks proposition. More choices bring us more consumers, so everyone wins. Our biggest challenge, in my view, is mastering the very rapid pace of innovation.
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Does plastic have a long-term future as a sustainable, competitive form of packaging?
PET packaging is light, safe and durable, and it allows companies like ours to deliver products in perfect condition right into the hands of consumers. What is more, the packaging we use for waters and beverages is designed for maximum recyclability. The problem with plastic packaging is not how we use it, but how as a society we dispose of it. It is waste - whether on land or in the oceans. This is at the heart of the plastics debate. At Danone we have been inspired by the ideas and the advocacy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, to seek ways to build a truly circular economy of packaging, where everything is recycled as a valuable resource, and nothing goes to waste or into nature. And we have made public commitments to achieve this goal, for example, by launching recycling initiatives in all major markets, and to support the EU goal of collecting 90% of beverage plastic bottles for recycling by 2029.