Danone to build new plant to support early life nutrition business

Danone has announced plans to establish a new plant for its early life nutrition business in the Netherlands, representing its largest investment in its European production capabilities to date.

The company will spend 240 million euros (173.3 million pounds) to create the state-of-the-art facility which will be located in Cuijk. Production is expected to commence in late 2017, with products to be exported to more than 80 countries worldwide.

Danone is making this investment to capitalise on strong and growing demand for its international early life nutrition brands, including Aptamil and Nutrilon, for both standard and specialised products.

Located near to Danone's research and development centre in Utrecht, the new site will be designed to meet the company's targets for sustainability, with a strong energy efficiency performance and low CO2 emissions.

Felix Martin Garcia, executive vice-president of Danone's Nutricia Early Life Nutrition division, said: "It will give us the capacity we need to meet rising demand for our early life nutrition products, and is consistent with our 2020 roadmap calling for strong, profitable and sustainable growth."