November 8, 2005

Danone starts dairy research centre in Shanghai

French group Danone has started a dairy research centre in Shanghai, at a cost of EUR2.5 million. The 1,600-square metre facility is located in Zhangjiang Semiconductor Industrial Park, Pudong New District.

China was expected to overtake France and Spain in the long term to become the company's largest market, according to Danone's China chairman Peng Qin.

Danone also sought to double its China sales to 15 percent of total revenue by 2015.

Domestic liquid milk production in China is currently slightly over 24 million tonnes a year, and is growing by 20 to 25 percent annually.

However, domestic demand has been rapidly rising due to increasing disposable income and greater nutritional awareness of dairy products. Thus, significant imports were still needed to meet the demand.