Correction: A previous version of this story indicated an incorrect timeline for the ingredients changes. It has been updated.
Dive Brief:
- Dannon announced Wednesday a pledge in three parts that will change the company's ingredient sourcing and labeling policies.
- Dannon has committed to more sustainable agricultural practices and technology by working with dairy farmers and suppliers to promote healthier soil, improvements to water management, an increase in biodiversity, and reduced carbon emissions.
- The other two commitments are more product-specific: All products from the company's three flagship brands (Dannon, Oikos, and Danimals) will contain fewer and more natural ingredients, including no GMOs beginning July 2016. The farmers for these brands will also provide non-GMO feed for their cows within the next three years. All remaining products that still contain GM ingredients will be labeled as such nationwide by December 2017.
Dive Insight:
Dannon is the latest major manufacturer to announce it would label GM ingredients in its products in the coming years and joins Campbell, General Mills, Mars, Kellogg, and ConAgra. But Dannon's commitment to making GMO-related changes includes a twist in its reformulation of flagship brands without GMO ingredients.
This announcement also extends the GMO commitment further down its supply chain. This commitment is for milk, and few companies have made far-reaching commitments for such central ingredients.
This past January, Dannon's ingredient choices were front and center after Chobani released an ad campaign for its Simply 100 line that attacked Dannon's use of the artificial sweetener sucralose while promoting Chobani's use of natural ingredients. Dannon responded with a cease and desist letter to Chobani demanding the company discontinue the campaign.
Chobani then responded with a lawsuit, but the court later granted Dannon a preliminary injunction to stop Chobani's campaign. It's unclear whether Dannon had already made the decision to move in the direction of natural ingredients or if this high-profile incident was a catalyst for change for the company.
Dannon mentioned being inspired by its sister organic company, Stonyfield Farm (also owned by Danone), which has long voiced its support for mandatory GMO labeling. Dannon emphasized in a news release that its journey is "independent from that of our organic sister companies."