DanoneWave continues natural path

BROOMFIELD — A popular Colorado-based maker of organic and plant-based foods is settling into life as part of an international company.

White Wave Foods merged with French dairy company Danone earlier this year. The new entity, which brings together a number of popular brands in North America and Europe, is known as DanoneWave. The company will maintain local offices in Broomfield.

The $10.4 billion merger is the largest deal so far in the natural and organic foods industry.

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According to Michael J. Neuwirth, senior director of external communication for DanoneWave, the acquisition of White Wave doubled the size of Danone’s North American footprint and created one of the country’s top refrigerated dairy companies. White Wave reported sales of about $4 billion last year. It employs 3,800 people and sells its products in retail grocers and cafeterias in all 50 states. Danone and its North American subsidiary Dannon claimed global sales of $24.5 billion last year.

Neuwirth called the merger a perfect match for two entities that share common traits of being purpose-driven and health-focused.

“DanoneWave’s ambition,” he added, “is to produce healthful dairy and plant-based foods and beverages and coffee creamers that are affordable, create economic and social value and nurture natural ecosystems through sustainable agriculture.”

Sales of White Wave’s core products — non-dairy alternatives such as soy, almond, coconut and cashew milk —  are considered high growth and show no sign of slowing down.

“Plant-based beverages are growing significantly faster than the average food and beverage industry and currently make up a 10 percent share of the dairy aisle in the U.S. market,” said Neuwirth. “We also see opportunities for additional growth thanks to underlying trends that favor health and wellness. In fact, 55 percent of Americans are planning to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets.”

Not bad for a segment of the food world that used to be small, catering mostly to those with allergies and diet restrictions.

“The category has expanded to become a general health and wellness solution for people seeking to make a change,” said Neuwirth.

White Wave’s product lines are centered around soy and nut-based milk, yogurt and creamer through its Silk and So Delicious brands. It also sells dairy milk and cheese through Horizon Organic; yogurt, kefir and sour cream as part of Wallaby Organic; and organic packaged salads and fruit as Earthbound Farms.

It’s an extensive product line for a company originally founded in 1977 in Boulder to make tofu.

White Wave’s products join Danone’s portfolio of brands that include Dannon, Activia and Oikos yogurt; International Delight coffee creamers; and Evian and Volvic water.

More products are in the pipeline with the completion of the merger. DanoneWave will release a new beverage in early 2018 that blends almond and cashew milk with cold-pressed flax oil. According to Neuwirth, it will have 50 percent more calcium than dairy milk, but with just three grams of sugar. It’s also high in Omega-3 ALA, an essential fatty acid that the human body doesn’t naturally produce.

But Neuwirth said the merger of Danone and White Wave is as much about internal culture as future products.

“We believe that every time we eat and drink, we’re voting for the world we want,” he said. “We’re committed to sustainable ingredient sourcing, water conservation, waste reduction, animal welfare and community engagement.”

White Wave works with organizations like Feeding America and Food Bank of the Rockies to help alleviate hunger and asks its suppliers to agree to a code of conduct on everything from responsible manufacturing to workforce diversity and safety.

Added Neuwirth, “This is more than a job. We’re making an impact on the world and each other.”