Last week saw a trip down to London to join a dialogue with<\/p>\n
The Danone team were joined by<\/p>\n
There was no clearly\u00a0mapped out process or agenda relying instead on getting some interested people into a convivial setting and seeing where the conversation went. \u00a0In both cases I suspect that some real learning accrued on both sides.<\/p>\n
Once again Danone showed an incredible\u00a0openness\u00a0in sharing with us some of their projects and challenges relating to food security, poverty alleviation, health and sustainability and showed how several projects had moved on from our last round of discussions with them. \u00a0Highlights for me included\u00a0investments from their 100m Euro ‘Nature Fund’ to support the development of Cooperatives of \u00a0Ukrainian Farmers to supply the high quality milk required to keep the Danone Production lines in full swing. \u00a0Danone invested in milking equipment to be shared by small\u00a0farmers\u00a0through the cooperative structure and animal\u00a0welfare\u00a0standards and husbandry. \u00a0These investments were made with no requirement to tie framers into contracts with Danone. \u00a0Also Danone say that paying these farmers cooperatives a fair price for milk ensures the long\u00a0term\u00a0stability of supply which is more\u00a0important\u00a0to them than any short term profits that might be gained through price squeezing.<\/p>\n
I was also intrigued by \u00a0their research into the fatty acid content of milk and how this can be correlated with the production of methane allowing accurate offsetting of methane production based on the actual\u00a0methane\u00a0production of each herd. \u00a0Now I am not an expert on off-setting and have a lay persons\u00a0suspicion\u00a0of how much can be achieved through this methodology. \u00a0Can we possibly plant enough mangrove, mangoes and other carbon fixing crops to ever truly offset production? \u00a0The whole conversation about carbon trading was one that left me a little cold. \u00a0I am far from\u00a0convinced\u00a0that putting a price on carbon is really the way forward. \u00a0Especially now that it\u00a0can\u00a0be speculated upon. \u00a0I am of the school that thinks the next great bubble to burst<\/a>\u00a0will\u00a0be the carbon market….I hope I am wrong and am certainly no expert in this field.<\/p>\n But perhaps most impressive part of the conversation for me was around needing to re-connect consumers to the production process, the reality of farming and food production. \u00a0A simple\u00a0realisation\u00a0that for Danone, and the rest of us, ‘Nature IS our business’ and simple tools for ensuring that this\u00a0realisation\u00a0is that the heart of innovation in the company. \u00a0So for example they are using a wonderfully simple compass to provide a test for new developments:<\/p>\n N = Nature<\/strong> – will the development respect nature?<\/p>\n S = Social<\/strong> – will the development lead to improvements in society? \u00a0Fair wages, good governance etc<\/p>\n E= Economic<\/strong> – will the project work economically? (I was impressed by Danone’s willingness to flex their normal investment rules to allow projects that would only work with a more generous interpretation of ‘payback periods’)<\/p>\n W= wellbeing<\/strong> or health – the Danone mission is to improve health for the greatest number of people through food. \u00a0If the project does not fit the mission then it will not move forward.<\/p>\n My guess is that this compass will be well understood throughout the business and used to assess new business developments and ensure that balances and tensions are effectively managed.<\/p>\n It is a strange phenomena for me to rub\u00a0against\u00a0a corporate whom I like,\u00a0respect\u00a0and trust. \u00a0Generally I am always lifting up the carpets looking for where the dirt has been hidden. \u00a0And still questions remain for me at least about the bottling and\u00a0distribution\u00a0of mineral water in rich countries (Danone are behind both Evian and Volvic I\u00a0believe). \u00a0But whenever I meet Danoners – be they ‘top brass’ or ‘frontline’ I am always impressed by their passion,\u00a0openness\u00a0(‘we have many challenges and we don’t have the answers but we will experiment…’) and commitment to co-invention of ideas and thinking through conversation.<\/p>\n I am already looking forward to the next conversation…when we hope to get some more skeptics involved<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/pre>\n