Grameen Danone facts for kids

Grameen Danone Foods, often called Grameen Danone, is a special kind of company. It started in 2006 in Bangladesh. Its main goal is to give children in rural areas important nutrients they might not get enough of. This company is a "social business". This means it doesn't try to make a profit for its owners. Instead, any money it earns goes back into the business to help more people.

How Grameen Danone Started

The idea for Grameen Danone came about in 2005. Muhammad Yunus, who started Grameen Bank, visited Paris, France. He met Franck Riboud, the head of a big food company called Groupe Danone.

During their meeting, Mr. Yunus suggested they work together. He wanted to create a company that would provide healthy food to poor children in Bangladesh. Mr. Riboud agreed to join this project. They decided it would be a "social business". This means it would focus on helping people, not just making money.

So, the Grameen Group and Groupe Danone formed a new company. They called it Grameen Danone Foods. Their goal was to bring healthy food to people in Bangladesh who didn't have enough to eat. They also wanted to help reduce poverty. The partners agreed not to take any profits out of the company.

When Grameen Danone launched, many famous people attended. This included the famous French soccer player Zinedine Zidane.

Several leaders have guided Grameen Danone over the years. Corinne Bazina led from 2010 to 2014. Eric Ipavec was in charge from 2014 to 2016. Valérie Mazon led from 2017 to 2018. Dipesh Nag has been the leader since 2020.

What Grameen Danone Makes

Grameen Danone Foods Ltd. makes a special yogurt called Shokti Doi. Shokti Doi means 'strength yogurt'. This yogurt is made especially for children. It has important things like protein, vitamins, iron, calcium, and zinc. These are all micronutrients that help children grow strong and healthy.

In 2017, a small cup of Shokti Doi (50 grams) cost 10 Taka. A larger cup (80 grams) cost 40 Taka.

Why Grameen Danone Exists

Grameen Danone Foods has a clear goal. It wants to help reduce poverty in Bangladesh. It does this by creating jobs for local people. For example, the milk used to make the yogurt comes from local farmers. This helps them earn money.

The companies that own Grameen Danone Foods Ltd. have agreed not to take any profits. Instead, any money the company earns is put back into the business. This helps create even more opportunities for people. This is why it is called a "social business enterprise."

How Much Yogurt They Make

Grameen Danone had big plans when it started. It aimed to build as many as 50 factories between 2006 and 2016. The first factory was built in Bogra district. This area is about 230 kilometers (143 miles) north of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.

The first factory is not very big. It covers an area of about 7,000 square feet (650 square meters). When it opened in 2006, it could make 3,000 kilograms (6,614 pounds) of yogurt every day. By 2008, they planned to make even more, up to 10,000 kilograms (22,046 pounds) daily.

Building this factory also created many jobs. Hundreds of people found work in livestock farming and distributing the yogurt. However, as of 2011, the company had not opened any other factories.

Challenges Grameen Danone Faces

Grameen Danone works hard to make sure Shokti Doi is always high quality. They have to keep the yogurt cold from the factory all the way to the customers. This is called maintaining the cold chain.

However, keeping things cold is very expensive in Bangladesh. Traffic jams are common, which makes transportation slow and costly. These high transportation costs use up a lot of the money the company earns. Because of these challenges, Grameen Danone had not yet started making a profit as of 2011.