Danone North America
Formerly
  • WhiteWave Foods
    (1977–2017)
  • DanoneWave (2017–2018)
Company type
IndustryFood
Founded1977; 47 years ago (1977) in Boulder, Colorado
FounderSteve Demos
FateAs WhiteWave Foods:
Acquired by Dean Foods in 2002, then by Danone
Headquarters
Broomfield, Colorado
,
US
Area served
North America and Europe
Brands
Number of employees
3,800
Parent
Subsidiaries
Websitedanonenorthamerica.com

Danone North America is a consumer packaged food and beverage company based in White Plains, New York, U.S, that manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells branded premium dairy products (including yogurt), plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers, and organic produce throughout North America and Europe.

WhiteWave was purchased by French conglomerate Danone in 2017[1] for $12.5 billion, and was then renamed to "DanoneWave".[2]

History

The company was established as "WhiteWave Foods" in 1977 by Steve Demos in Boulder, Colorado, to expand soy into the market.[3]

The company was formerly a subsidiary of Dean Foods, and was spun off in an initial public offering announced in August 2012.[4][5] Dean Foods had acquired WhiteWave in May 2002.[6][7]

WhiteWave acquired Earthbound Farm, America's largest grower of organic produce, on January 2, 2014, for about $600 million.[8]

In September 2014, WhiteWave announced they were taking over vegan dessert and beverage company, So Delicious.[9][10][11] WhiteWave announced on October 31, 2014, that the So Delicious takeover was complete.[12]

On July 7, 2016, French food and beverage manufacturer Danone announced a $12.5 billion deal to acquire WhiteWave.[2] On August 15, WhiteWave announced a meeting had been scheduled for October 4 for stockholders to vote on the Danone takeover. The WhiteWave board unanimously recommend that the takeover bid be accepted.[13] On March 31, 2017, Danone announced it had reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice concerning its WhiteWave transaction for $12.5 billion, wherein Danone sold its "Stonyfield dairy subsidiary in the months after the WhiteWave acquisition closes."[14] The acquisition was completed in April 2017 and newly formed company was named "DanoneWave" and in April 2018 it was renamed "Danone North America".[15][16] It now operates as a subsidiary and the headquarters remains in Denver.[17]

Brands

The company’s brands distributed in North America include Horizon Organic dairy and pantry products, Silk plant-based foods and beverages, Left Field Farms creamer and milk, Stok cold-brew coffee, So Delicious nut milk and yogurt, and International Delight and Land O'Lakes coffee creamers and beverages.[18][19] WhiteWave’s European brands of plant-based foods and beverages include Alpro and Provamel.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Danone seals the deal with WhiteWave". foodbusinessnews.net. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  2. ^ a b Strom, Stephanie (7 July 2016). "Danone of France to Buy WhiteWave in $10 Billion Deal to Bolster U.S. Portfolio". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  3. ^ Profile In Persistence By Bethany Mclean on CNN Business, May 1, 2001
  4. ^ a b "WhiteWave Foods Company". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  5. ^ Dean Foods Announces Spin-Off of The WhiteWave Foods Company, 1 May 2013, Dean Foods press release
  6. ^ Dean Foods Completes White Wave Transaction, 9 May 2002
  7. ^ Dean Foods goes bust thanks to a fatal error: shying away from alt-milk. November 13, 2019. Rob Leclerc at AG Funder News
  8. ^ "The WhiteWave Foods Company Completes Acquisition of Earthbound Farm". Yahoo! Finance. January 3, 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  9. ^ Holland, Colleen (2014-09-19). "WhiteWave Foods Buys So Delicious Dairy Free". Vegnews.com. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  10. ^ "WhiteWave Foods, Owner of Silk and So Delicious, Buys Vega". Latestvegannews.com. 2015-06-11. Archived from the original on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  11. ^ "WhiteWave Foods". Whitewave.com. Archived from the original on 2016-11-29. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  12. ^ "WhiteWave Foods Company Completes Acquisition of So Delicious Dairy Free". BevNET.com. 2014-11-03. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  13. ^ "WhiteWave Schedules October 4, 2016 Special Meeting for Vote on Merger Agreement with Danone" (PDF). Whitewave.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2016-12-22.
  14. ^ Agnew, Harriet (March 31, 2017). "Danone to sell US dairy subsidiary to speed up WhiteWave deal". Financial Times. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  15. ^ Cornall, Jim (12 April 2017). "Danone completes acquisition of WhiteWave to create DanoneWave". Dairyreporter.com. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  16. ^ Kaye, Leon (April 13, 2018). "Danone North America is Now the Largest B Corp on Earth". Triple Pundit. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  17. ^ Greg Avery (April 6, 2020). "Colorado food company hikes pay for production workers". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2023. (subscription required)
  18. ^ Castle, Shay. "Danone completes $10 billion acquisition of Broomfield's WhiteWave". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  19. ^ Plunkett's Food Industry Almanac 2008. Plunkett Research. 2008. ISBN 9781593921064. Retrieved 2017-12-27.

External links

Groupe Danone
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