Grameen Danone facts for kids

Grameen Danone Foods, often called Grameen Danone, is a special company that started in 2006. It's known as a 'social business' because its main goal isn't to make money for its owners. Instead, it aims to help children in rural Bangladesh get important nutrients they might be missing from their daily food. The company works on a 'No loss, No dividend' idea, which means any money it earns is put back into the business to help more people, instead of being given to shareholders.

How Grameen Danone Started

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

Yunus suggested they work together to provide healthy food to children in Bangladesh who didn't have enough to eat. Riboud agreed to this idea, and they decided to create a 'social business'. This meant the company would focus on helping people, not just making a profit for its owners.

The launch of Grameen Danone was a big event. Even the famous French soccer player Zinedine Zidane was there!

What They Make and How Much It Costs

Grameen Danone Foods Ltd. makes a special yogurt called Shokti Doi. This name means 'strength yogurt'. It's made to give children in Bangladesh important things their bodies need.

Shokti Doi has protein, vitamins, iron, calcium, zinc, and other tiny but very important micronutrients. These help children grow strong and stay healthy. In 2017, a small cup of Shokti Doi cost 10 Taka, and a slightly larger one cost 40 Taka.

Grameen Danone's Main Goal

Grameen Danone Foods wants to help reduce poverty. It does this by creating jobs and business chances for local people. For example, they buy the milk needed for their yogurt from farmers nearby.

The companies that own Grameen Danone Foods Ltd. have agreed not to take any profits out of the company. Instead, they put all the money back into the business. This helps create new opportunities and improve the lives of people in Bangladesh. That's why it's called a 'social business enterprise'.

How Much Yogurt They Can Make

Grameen Danone had plans to open many factories between 2006 and 2016. The first factory was built in Bogra district, which is about 230 kilometers north of Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh.

This first factory is quite small. When it opened in 2006, it could make 3,000 kilograms of yogurt every day. By 2008, they planned to increase this to 10,000 kilograms or more. Building this factory also created hundreds of jobs for people who raise livestock and those who help distribute the yogurt in the local area. However, as of 2011, the company had not opened any other factories.

Challenges They Face

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 people who buy it. This is called maintaining the 'cold chain'.

However, keeping things cold during transport is very expensive in Bangladesh. Traffic can be very bad, which makes transportation costs high. These high costs mean that the company has found it difficult to make enough money to cover all its expenses so far.