French dairy major Groupe Danone, embroiled in a legal battle with its Indian partner -- the Wadias, is striking an aggressive posture in Asia. In the last month and a half, Danone has announced initiatives in China, Japan and Thailand, indicating a significant role played by Asia in the gameplan of the Euro13 billion dairy major.
According to a company statement, the moves in Asia were in line with the company's objective "to accelerate strategic growth objectives in the Asian dairy market".
Analysts said the main reason for the Asian pull for Danone was because its sales were largely skewed towards Europe. Till last year, nearly 71 per cent of Danone's sales revenue for fresh dairy products came from Europe. "Naturally, Danone wants to reduce its over-dependence on the European markets," said a Mumbai-based analyst.
Last week, Danone announced it had bought out its partners Ajinomoto and Calpis in the group's Japanese joint venture -- Calpis Ajinomoto Danone. In this deal, Danone bought out Ajinomoto, its joint venture partner of more than 25 years.
Danone and Ajinomoto established the 50:50 joint venture in 1980, in which Calpis became a partner in 1993. A week before its Japanese move, Danone entered into a deal with Thailand's largest manufacturer of fresh dairy products, Dutch Mill Co.
A few weeks earlier, setting its eyes on the gigantic Chinese market, Danone announced a joint venture agreement with ChinaMengniu Dairy Co to cooperate for the production and distribution of fresh dairy products in