News briefs: Danone and organic schooling
its Numico purchase, while an organic dairy cooperative heads for
the playground with a new campaign about its operations.
Danone divesting Danone will offload the French baby milk and baby drink business of the recently acquired nutrition company Numico to dairy group Lactalis as part of its agreement with European Commission's competition watchdog to clear the deal. The France-based company first made a proposal to acquire Numico for €55 per ordinary share in cash on July 9, amounting to a total of €12.3bn in a bid to propel itself into a top three spot in major markets for nutrition and infant products. In November, the watchdog required Danone to divest various operations across France, Belgium and the Netherlands, due to antitrust concerns. In addition to the French infant nutrition arm, the company says that for its operations in the Netherlands and Belgium, it has also agreed to transfer the Blendina export business to the Hero Group. The company says that it has also agreed to the sale of its 123 brand to Lactalis late last month. The divested operations amount to less than 3 per cent of Danone's global infant nutrition operations, according to the company. Organic group taking message to schools The UK-based organic milk cooperative OMSCo is heading back to school by launching a new education pack for children it claims will answer the vital question of where food actually originates. Group marketing manager Rosie Palmer said the project was an attempt to allow children to bridge the growing gap between town and countryside environments by detailing where food originates and what organic products really are. "The OMSCo educational resource has been created to give a real insight in to where organic milk comes from and basic farming principles, specifically organic dairy farming," she said. The programme, entitled "Milk comes from supermarkets, doesn't it?", will also aim to look at how the media presents information on food.
