CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique joined French officials and Danone employees to inaugurate its newly transformed production facility in Villecomtal-sur-Arros in southwestern France.
The site underwent a plant-based conversion to facilitate the production of oat-based drinks for the Alpro brand. The transformation took nearly two years and called for a capital investment of several million euros. The site is now home to Danone France’s only oat-flour-to-oat-juice production facility.
The Villecomtal-sur-Arros plant features two production lines, one operating at high speed. Beverage output is set to reach over 300,000 liters a day for distribution in France and 26 other European markets. 90% of total production is designated for export.
To support the transformation of the site all its employees received specialized training in plant processing techniques.
Yann Le Roy, operations manager, Danone France, said: “We’re a multi-local company, which means our strength and our future lie in our employees and our historic presence in local communities. Today we’re proud to open a new production site for plant-based beverages. Making these products in France gives us a unique position in this market.”
With the inauguration of Villecomtal-sur-Arros, Danone now has two French and four European sites dedicated to plant-based beverages, with the well-known Alpro brand a key driver. Alpro already caters to 3.6 million regular consumers in France. Danone sells more than 20 million liters of Alpro plant-based beverages in France, and over 300 million across Europe.
“Our Alpro brand is committed to dietary diversity, and we are working hard to meet demand. Going forward, we aim to raise awareness among France’s 67-million strong population. And to do that, we will be stepping up production of both our oat-based ranges, rich in plant proteins, and our on-the-go formats,” says Benjamin Chevallier, Country Manager Plant-Based France.