Danone
Score 2024
Score
Score
Important:
The research findings regarding companies’ performance in this Index are based on information shared by companies or gathered by service providers, in addition to information that is available in the public domain.
The level of detail and comprehensiveness of information shared by companies and gathered through external service providers varied. In the case of limited or no engagement by companies, this Index may not represent the full extent of their efforts. Similarly, in the case of limited data collected by service providers, the findings of this Index may not provide a comprehensive representation of company practices.
ATNI’s research and Indexes do not assess compliance with local regulations or laws, but rather assess private sector performance against international standards and guidance.
CF Country Studies
Score
The Country Studies component of the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 evaluates the extent to which a company’s marketing practices align with specific provisions of the WHO Code (not against local Code-related regulations). The main marketing channels assessed in the Country Studies for the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 are online points-of-sale, traditional and online media outlets, and product labels which were all assessed according to the NetCode protocol. Danone sells CF products in three countries (China, Germany and the US) of the five countries selected for the assessment, which altogether represent around 14% of Danone’s estimated global CF sales. The Country Studies results for Danone are summarized below for each country and across each marketing channel.
Country Studies overview
| Danone | Country assessments | CF market | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total incidences of non-compliance across online, traditional media, and product labels | Number of product labels assessed | Company brands found | CF market share | Proportion of Danone's global CF sales | |
| CHINA | 9 | 5 | Aptamil, Neocate | <5% | No information available |
| GERMANY | 13 | 6 | Milupa | 12% | 6% |
| INDONESIA | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| US | 17 | 15 | Happy Baby, Happy Tot | <5% | 7% |
| VIET NAM | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
(0 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 100%)
(>0-10 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 66%)
(>10-20 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 33%)
(> 20 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 0%)
• In China, Danone has a relatively small market share (<5%). A total of nine non-compliance incidences were found, which included four advertisements or promotions on online media channels and all five product labels assessed contained one or more instances of non-compliance.
• In Germany, where Danone’s CF sales represent ~6% of the company’s global CF sales and has around 12% of the market share, a total of 13 non-compliance incidences were identified, which included seven advertisements or promotions on online media channels and all six product labels assessed contained one or more instances of non-compliance.
• The highest number of incidences of non-compliance were found (17) in the US, where Danone has a small market share of the US CF market (<5%) and which represents approximately 7% of the company’s total global US sales. Only two advertisements or promotions on online media channels were found and all 15 product labels assessed contained one or more instances of non-compliance.
Observed incidences of non-compliance with the Code per country
food < 6 months of age
food 6-36 months of age
Main in-country findings
The highest number of incidences of non-compliance for Danone were found in the US (17), followed by Germany (13) and China (9).
Across all country assessments, the majority of incidences of non-compliant marketing practices observed (39) for Danone were for inappropriate CF product labels (26). A total of 13 incidences of non-compliance were identified through the social listening of online platforms. On traditional media, no incidences of non-compliance were found in the eight weeks the channels were monitored.
One commercial complementary food product explicitly intended for infants below six months of age was found in Germany in this assessment. According to the WHO, this product should not be available on the market and was counted as a non-compliant label. Fifteen incidences observed belonged to CF products that had no clear age range specified of which the majority (11 out of 15) were found in the US.
The other commercial complementary foods found (23) during ATNI’s assessment were clearly marketed as suitable for older infants and young children between six months up to three years of age.
Online findings
• Among the total incidences of non-compliance found online (13), there were no observations identified for non-compliant point-of-sale promotions on online retail channels in the eight weeks the channels were monitored.
• The 13 incidences of non-compliance were found on the company’s local websites and social media platforms, with the highest number of findings in Germany (7), followed by China (4), and the US (2).
• Across the three countries where online advertisements of Danone’s CF products were found, an average of three to five incidences of non-compliance were identified with each observation. All the advertiements were missing the statement on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond. In China none of Danone’s CF products found promoted online had a clear recommended age of introduction, some advertisements in Germany and the US were also missing this (43% and 50% respectively).
• Other incidences of non-compliance found with the advertisements included sign-up to online contests, registering to baby clubs and expert chats, the promotion of bottle feeding in Germany and endorsements by registered dietitians and experts in the US.
• The majority of the online advertisements found also included claims, ranging from 50% of the identified advertisements in China, to 100% in the US.
CF product label
• The total number of Danone CF products assessed were 26, five in China, 15 in the US and six in Germany.
• One CF product in Germany was found to be marketed as suitable for infants under six months of age, this product was not assessed as it should not be available on the market according to the WHO. Therefore, the following results are for CF 6-36 months and those with no clear age indicated.
• For all Danone product labels assessed, at least one incident of Code non-compliance was observed. The average number of incidences of non-compliance per product label assessed ranged from two in China to four in the US.
• Across the three markets, all Danone CF labels assessed had at least one type of claim and none included a statement on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond.
• Germany was the only country where Danone CF products did not have all the labelling information in the local language for five products; information on the labels was written in English instead. Another key observation classified as non-compliant with the Code was identified on the CF product labels assessed for Danone in the US where 10 of the 15 products assessed did not include a clear recommended age for introducing the product to older infants and young children.
• Of all products, 12 included an image, text, or other representation that may suggest that the product is inherently superior to home-prepared foods. Another incidence of non-compliance was found in the US, by containing an endorsement by a professional, in this case by mentioning pediatricians and nutritionists, certification or government inspection on 11 labels.
• It is worth noting that ATNI did not have the resources to collect products from the different markets and take pictures of its labels. For this assessment ATNI used product label images from an external provider. For some products, images were not clear enough or did not show all parts of the package, in these cases ATNI asked the respective companies to provide images of the labels. Danone provided images of product labels (as requested by ATNI) to help complete the assessments for all products.
Recommendations
• Given the incidences of non-compliant marketing practices for CF products observed, Danone is recommended to ensure that CF products are appropriately promoted in line with the 2016 WHO Guidance on ending the inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children supported by WHA resolution 69.9.
• The WHA 69.9 supported guidance includes recommendations around which messages should be present on CF labels to support optimal infant and young child feeding, and which are inappropriate and could undermine recommended practices. Danone should incorporate these recommendations in its policies and practices and apply them to its CF products, as none of the CF products in this assessment fully met these requirements. The company should aim to address missing statements on exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond and ensure that product labels in each market (especially in Germany) are appropriately translated into local languages.
• Danone is encouraged to consider the recommendations of the Code and WHA 69.9 supported guidance to appropriately advertise and promote CF products and brands intended for older infants and young children between six months and three years of age on all forms of media platforms globally. The company should also refrain from including endorsements by professionals like pediatricians and nutritionists.
• Danone is strongly encouraged to take responsibility for monitoring its marketing practices beyond local regulations, according to the principles and the aim of the Code and subsequent relevant resolutions, and to take steps to ensure this includes online media channels.
• ATNI is calling on Danone to review all incidences of non-compliance identified across all marketing channels, which were shared in detail with the company, and to take corrective action in each of the markets.
CF Corporate Profile
Score
The Corporate Profile component of the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 evaluates the extent to which a company’s policies align with various provisions of the Code, the effectiveness of its related management systems as well as the company’s level of disclosure on commitments relating to CF marketing. Danone’s CF marketing commitments were assessed across nine topics that cover different aspects of the Code yielding an average score that is equivalent to the company’s initial overall Corporate Profile score before a geographic penalty (if applicable) is applied. However, the assessment on one of the indicators in the first topic on “Guiding Principles of Infant and Young Child Feeding” determines whether a company receives the full initial overall Corporate Profile score or only half of it. A company that is found to market CF for infants under six months of age only gets half of the initial overall Corporate Profile score. As described in the findings on the topic “Guiding Principles of Infant and Young Child Feeding” below, Danone was found to market CF products for infants under six months of age, therefore its initial overall Corporate Profile score was halved from 20% to 10%. The final Corporate Profile score considers how the company’s marketing commitments are applied across different markets for CF products intended for older infants and young children between six months and up to three years of age (CF 6-36 months). The next section ‘Geographic application of CF commitments by product type’ shows how the company’s application of commitments for CF 6-36 months was evaluated. The scores and findings on each topic are described in further detail in the section below on ‘CF Commitments by Topic’.
Geographic application by Danone of CF commitments by product type
The percentage of product sales where commitments are upheld, and the geographic penalty applied to CF products intended for older infants and young children aged six months up to three years. The penalty ranges from 0% up to 90% depending on whether a company fully upholds its CF marketing commitments in all or none of the countries in which it operates, respectively, where national Code regulations are absent or less stringent than the company’s policies and standards.
|
Corporate Profile score before penalty |
Product type |
Percentage of Danone’s global sales from markets where CF commitments are upheld |
Geographic penalty applied |
Final Corporate Profile score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.1% |
Commercial complementary foods 6-36 months |
0% | 90% | 1% |
Commercial Complementary Foods
• No information was found in the public domain nor shared by the company describing if and where (in what markets) marketing commitments are upheld for CF 6-36 products. Therefore, the corresponding geographic penalty is the maximum of 90% and the final Corporate Profile score is 1%.
ATNI calls on Danone to consider the expanded definition of the Code, following the World Health Assembly resolution 69.9 recommendations that cover and address the responsible marketing of commercially produced complementary foods intended for older infants and young children aged 6–36 months.
Topics Overview
CF commitments by topic
Most topics include both policy commitments and management systems except for ‘Guiding principles of infant and young child feeding’ which only considers policy commitments, ‘Implementation and Monitoring’ which only considers management systems, and ‘Disclosure’ which only considers the level of disclosure of identified commitments. ‘Lobbying and Policy Influence’ is the only topic that includes policy commitments, management systems and disclosure.