Danone was able to increase its turnover in the third quarter thanks to price increases. Like nearly the entire industry, the French dairy giant faces higher raw material costs, which it is passing on to customers.
“Focus on productivity and pricing actions”
Danone achieved total sales of 6.2 billion euros in the past three months, up 3.8 % on a comparable basis. Including currency effects and acquisitions, revenue increased by 5.8 %.
The growth is due to price increases because, overall, Danone actually sold less. The ‘specialised food’ division was most under pressure: its volume shrank by more than 5 %. The water division did much better with a volume growth of 2.4 %, aided by the phasing out of Covid measures and increased out of home mobility.
Danone expects prices for ingredients, packaging and logistics to continue to rise in the coming months. “Like just about everyone across the sector and beyond, we see inflationary pressures across the board. What started as increased inflation on material costs evolved into widespread constraints impacting our supply chain in many parts of the world”, said CFO Juergen Esser. To reduce its impact on business results, he plans to focus even more on “productivity and pricing actions”.
