Transforming the Marketplace

The Dannon Company

2016 Progress Report

Year Committed: 2014

Length of Commitment: 3 years

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Committed to improving nutrient density and reducing sugar and fat in its yogurt products. Dannon will also invest in education and research focused on healthy eating habits.

Verified Results

Implementation Date
June 2016
Reporting Date
August 2016

Commitment Element
Improve by 10% the Nutrient Density (ND) of the overall portfolio of products within the Scope.
Progress To Date

Through reformulation, line extensions and innovations to its product mix, Nutrient Density for Dannon's overall product portfolio improved 10.06% from baseline, meeting its commitment. Average nutrient density across all products in the scope is 42.79, up from a baseline score of 38.89.
Implementation Date
June 2016
Reporting Date
August 2016

Commitment Element
70 % of the volume of products produced within the Scope and 100% of the volume of products intended for children contain <23g total sugars per 170g (6 oz).
Progress To Date

Dannon met its overall commitment for total sugars reduction with 78% of the volume of products within the PHA scope containing <23 g total sugars per 170g (6 oz). This represents a 16 percentage point increase from baseline of products meeting the sugar standard. Dannon also met its commitment for children’s products with 100% of products meeting the same sugar standard. This represents a 70 percentage point increase from baseline.
Implementation Date
June 2016
Reporting Date
August 2016

Commitment Element
75% of the volume of products within the Scope meet the US FDA definition of “fat free” or “low in fat.”
Progress To Date

Dannon met its overall commitment for fat reduction with 87% of the volume of products meeting the U.S. FDA definition of “fat free” or “low in fat.” This change represents a 19 percentage point increase from baseline.
Implementation Date
June 2016
Reporting Date
August 2016

Commitment Element
Invest $3,000,000 for education and research focused on healthy eating habits.
Progress To Date

Dannon invested an additional $937,840 in 2016 on a variety of exhibits, educational grants, presentations and direct marketing for a combined total of $3,300,000 over 3 years exceeding its commitment.

Partner Statement

“It was a defining moment for everyone at Dannon when we announced our commitment goals to PHA in 2014 - and we did not know how we might achieve them! We were inspired to commit to PHA’s mission to ensure the health of our nation’s youth by doing our part to help solve the childhood obesity crisis. Reflecting on our journey from mid-2013 to mid-2016, we are further inspired by the accomplishment of all four components of our goals, having implemented significant changes in our products.

"Specifically, we made continued progress toward sugar reduction in our kids’ products, ensuring 100 percent of products sold have 23g or less of total sugar per 6oz serving, while continuing to improve on last year’s sugar reduction achievement for the complete product portfolio. On fat levels, we sustained the previous progress made towards having at least 75 percent of all products sold be low-fat or non-fat. And on overall nutrient density we made significant additional progress with an improvement of almost five percent versus prior year, resulting in the achievement of our ten percent overall improvement goal. Finally, we exceeded our goal by nearly 10 percent to invest at least $3 million in nutrition education and research during the course of our commitment.

"As a reminder, one of the strengths of the nutrition indicators of our commitment is that achievement is based on the actual volumes of Dannon products sold. This means that the progress we made reflects the improved nutritional quality of our products that are actually selected and enjoyed by our consumers.

"Our commitment to PHA continues to resonate with our employees and external stakeholders. Having achieved our goals, we remain committed to improving the nutrient density of our already-nutritious products and encourage Americans to eat one yogurt every day.”