Franck Riboud, Zinédine Zidane, and Muhammad Yunus Launch the First Affordable Dairy Product of Grameen Danone Foods in Bangladesh

15/11/06 On November 7th and 8th, 2006, Franck Riboud, Zinédine Zidane and Muhammad Yunus will together officialise the start of Grameen Danone Foods. Grameen Danone Foods is a unique initiative to bring daily healthy nutrition to low income, nutritionally deprived populations in Bangladesh and alleviate poverty through the implementation of a unique proximity business model.

On November 7th, Groupe DANONE opens the doors of the international event, Danone Nations Cup to the children of Bangladesh. In 2006, 32 nations battled it out for the trophy, and more than 2.6 million children from all over the world took part in the thrilling DNC experience. This announcement is made in Dhaka by Franck Riboud, CEO of Groupe DANONE and Zinédine Zidane, the ambassador for the event, in presence of Muhammad Yunus, Managing director & Founder of Grameen Bank, Director of Grameen-Danone Food, and the Bangladeshi football authorities, during an official football game.

On November 8th, Franck Riboud, Zinédine Zidane, and Muhammad Yunus will announce the official start of the first factory, built in Bogra (150 kms North of Dhaka). The initial focus of Grameen Danone is the launch of an easily affordable dairy product. It has been specifically developed in collaboration with GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition) to fulfill the nutritional needs of children in Bangladesh and to contribute to their strong growth by bringing them the benefits of milk and other micronutrients they lack.

More than one thousand livestock-farming and distribution jobs are expected to be created in the local community as a result of this first implementation. The distribution will be organised in a radius of 25kms of the plant, through Grameen ladies’ network. In order to maximize the social impact of the project, Grameen and DANONE intend to reinvest the profits of Grameen Danone Foods, beyond its cost of capital, in the multi-local deployment of this unique proximity model throughout the country, with an objective of 50 plants.