French dairy giant Danone has acquired Earth Island, a plant-based business in the US present in cheese alternatives and spreads.
The deal, struck for an undisclosed sum, sees the Alpro and Activia brands owner acquire 100% of the shares of the business, which is also known as Follow Your Heart.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The US firm, founded in 1988 and based in Canoga Park, California, competes in the plant-based cheese and mayonnaise categories with brands such as Follow Your Heart and Vegenaise.
Danone said in a statement: “Follow Your Heart will be able to accelerate growth nationally and internationally alongside some of Danone’s best-known plant-based brands, including Alpro, Silk and So Delicious Dairy Free.
“This partnership will enable Danone to enhance and expand its plant-based offering, including cheese, while contributing to its goal of increasing plant-based sales worldwide from more than EUR2bn (US$2.42bn) in 2020 to EUR5bn by 2025.”
In a Tweet this morning (19 February), Danone chairman and CEO Emmanuel Faber said: "Thrilled to announce the acquisition of Follow Your Heart, opening for Danone a strong foothold into the promising flexitarian trend in the US cheese market. This is building further on our global leadership on plant-based, now representing 10% of our sales."
The deal announcement came alongside Danone reporting its Q4 and full-year 2020 results.
The company, which has come under pressure from some investors of late who are urging structural change and a portfolio-shake up to boost returns, suggested 2021 would be a year of recovery with sales back to growth from the second quarter and a return to profitable growth in the second half.
Its 2020 sales were down 6.6% year-on-year at EUR23.62bn, while net income rose 1.4% to EUR1.95bn.
