Danone adds Follow Your Heart to plant-based portfolio
Founded in 1988 to meet the growing demand for Vegenaise at the Follow Your Heart Market & Café, Earth Island produces a dairy-free cheese alternative brand—offering shredded and sliced plant-based cheese alternatives, grated and shredded plant-based parmesan and cream cheese alternatives—and egg-free mayonnaise brand, Vegenaise.
The company also produces a plant-based sour cream alternative, salad dressings, and VeganEgg within its Follow Your Heart portfolio. As part of Danone, Earth Island will be able to accelerate the growth of the Follow Your Heart brand nationally and internationally alongside some of Danone's best-known plant-based brands, including Alpro, Silk and So Delicious Dairy Free.
"Our mission has always been to produce the best plant-based food products and to make them available to as many people as possible," said Bob Goldberg, co-founder and CEO of Earth Island.
"We're very pleased to be joining the Danone family of plant-based companies in a collective effort to bring positive change in the world through the creation of sustainably and responsibly-made foods."
Danone said the partnership will enable it to enhance and expand its plant-based offerings to provide consumers with plant-based alternatives for more occasions throughout the day, while also contributing to its goal of increasing plant-based sales worldwide from more than €2bn ($2.4bn) in 2020 to €5bn ($6.05bn) by 2025.
"We are delighted to welcome Follow Your Heart's team to our amazing team at Danone," said Shane Grant, EVP and CEO, Danone North America.
"The Follow Your Heart family shares our commitment to producing high-quality products that delight consumers while contributing to the wellbeing of People and Planet. Consumers are increasingly eating flexitarian diets, and we look forward to working with the Follow Your Heart team to offer our consumers even more choices. This partnership will build on our success in plant-based beverages, yogurt alternatives and creamers, further accelerating the growth of our North American plant-based business."
The transaction is subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals.
Follow Your Heart Brand manufactures its products in its Los Angeles-based solar-powered facility called Earth Island, which has been distinguished as Platinum-level Zero Waste certified, the highest possible status, under the TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) certification system.
Follow Your Heart Brand's products include Vegenaise, Dairy-Free Cheeses, VeganEgg, Salad Dressings, Dairy-Free Yogurt, Cream Cheese, and Sour Cream, all of which are naturally dairy-, gluten- and cholesterol-free and made with all-natural, non-GMO ingredients.
