Danone is shrinking its leadership structure to enable the dairy giant to be more agile and have a deeper impact on the market.
Starting in 2026, Danone will go from having five geographic regions to three. They are:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
- Asia-Pacific (APAC)
- Americas
Henri Bruxelles will be the president of the Americas; Bruno Chevot will be the president of Asia-Pacific; and Pablo Perversi will be the president of Europe, Turkey, Middle East and Africa.
“As part of the next chapter of our Renew Danone strategy, we have decided to further accelerate our transformation, with a more compact and simpler organisation at the top of the company,” Danone CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said in a statement. “These changes help us move forward with even greater focus and agility.”
Christian Stammkoetter, currently president for Asia, Africa and the Middle East, will leave at the end of the year after 19 years with the company.
De Saint-Affrique, who previously held the top post at chocolate maker Barry Callebaut, launched the company’s Renew Danone platform six months after taking over as CEO to improve performance in troubled offerings such as Horizon Organic and traditional dairy. The plan also centers around investing more in winning products, such as yogurt brand Oikos, and creating value by selling existing brands or buying new ones.
Since the rollout, Danone has sold Horizon Organic and Wallaby brands to a private equity firm and launched Oikos offerings geared toward protein consumption and GLP-1 users. It acquired a majority stake in Kate Farms, a maker of plant-based nutrition shakes, earlier this year and has tried to buy kefir maker Lifeway Foods.
Danone reported 2024 sales of 27.376 billion euros (or $31.89 billion), a like-for-like increase of 4.3%.
