Danone plans to double domestic nutrition biz in 3-4 years

French dairy giant Danone, which had acquired the nutrition business of Wockhardt, plans to double the domestic baby and medical nutrition business in three to four years, a top company official has said.

The French firm had acquired the nutrition business of Wockhardt for a consideration of Rs 1,280 crore, paving the way for its entry into the domestic baby and medical nutrition market and the new entity was named Nutricia International.

"The domestic baby nutrition and medical nutrition is a Rs 300-crore business and is growing at 15-20 per cent. We should grow faster than the market rate. We should be able to double our business in three to four years," Danone Group firm Nutricia International Managing Director Laurent Marcel told PTI on the sidelines of an industry event here.

Danone had earlier this year acquired drug firm Wockhardt's various brands under its nutrition business, including Farex, Protinex, Dexolac and Nusobee, apart from related industrial operations from Carol Info Services based in Punjab.

When asked if the company would launch its global brands in the baby nutrition business here, Marcel said, "We will leverage on the existing brands in the first phase, as we want to leverage the strengths of Wockhardt's brands and understand the market better.

"We will see when it is a good time to bring in new brands. This is a strategic roadmap that takes some time for implementation".

Danone sells its baby nutrition products in 137 countries with a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for around 40 per cent of its volumes.

Its baby nutrition brands include Milupa, Bledina, Gallia, Aptamil, SGM and Dumex among others.

On the investment side, Marcel remained tight-lipped on the amount, but said the company would be pumping in money to enhance capacity.

"We know factories will be reaching full capacity soon. So we will have to plan the next step of investment. We will invest for sure, but I cannot share the numbers. Our plan is to keep manufacturing here, so we will have to invest in production facilities in the coming years," he said.

He added the domestic baby nutrition business is small at present, but expects it to contribute significantly in the future.

"The baby nutrition is small in this market. Globally, it  is a 3-4 billion euro business. Very soon, India will also become a good contributor to our global sales. When you compare sales from this market to our total sales, it is small but the potential to grow is probably one of the best in the
world," he said.

Danone is at present focused on growing the market and at a later stage will decide which neighbouring countries it should enter, he added.