Groupe Danone in Russia is the leading dairy manufacturer in our country. Today Groupe Danone employs more than 15,000 employees, owns over 20 plants in Russia and produces dairy products under such brand names as Prostokvashino, Activia, Actimel, Rastishka, Tyoma, Danissimo, BioBalance, Actual, Smeshariki, Danone, etc.
In terms of geographical location and management principle, Groupe Danone is divided into the following divisions: Belarus, Moscow, Centre, North-West, Volga, South, the Urals, and Siberia. There are 5 plants in the Volga division: Dairy Plant Samaralakto, ZAO Danone Volga (Samara Region), ZAO Integrated Plant of Dairy Products Edelweiss M (Republic of Tatarstan), OAO Dairy Plant Saransky (Republic of Mordovia), Dairy Plant Cheboksarsky (Chuvash Republic).
ZAO Integrated Plant of Dairy Products Edelweiss M is one of the most modern dairy plants of Groupe Danone. In 2012, the company was certified compliant with ISO 22000 (the International Standard for Food Safety). Here, using milk of local agricultural enterprises, the dairy plant produces milk and sour cream bearing the brand names Prostokvashino and Edelweiss, as well as whey drinks Actual and milk drinks Smeshariki and Rastishka, which are so popular among children of Russia. In 2013, Edelweiss M successfully launched the company’s latest development – a unique sour milk product which will be manufactured under the Prostokvashino brand.
Groupe Danone in Russia is part of the international food-products corporation. The group, whose products are sold on five continents, has 184 production plants and over 100,000 employees in 120 countries. Danone is the world’s number one producer of fresh dairy products, the world’s number two in bottled water and baby nutrition, and Europe’s number one in medical nutrition.
Some key figures from 2012 annual report:
Sales revenues – 79 bln rubles
Milk procurement – over 1.7 mln tons (first ranking in Russia)
Volume of investments – over USD 130 mln