Here are some examples of our local and global social innovation initiatives across four areas: supporting local communities; promoting healthy eating choices; co-building sustainability solutions and our social innovation funds.

At Danone UK & Ireland, we believe in giving back to our communities. Each year, our employees are given two full days to volunteer, supporting our charity partners and other causes. In 2024, Danone employees dedicated over 2,000 hours to volunteering across 44 different causes.

Through our partnerships with FoodCycle, FoodCloud, and FareShare, our employees help transform surplus food into nutritious meals, redistribute food to those in need, and raise awareness about food insecurity. These efforts reflect our commitment to fostering healthy, sustainable communities and empowering our workforce to make a positive impact. 

With FoodCycle, we have developed new training modules and resources for volunteers in collaboration with the nutrition agency Nutrilicious. These materials include cooking tips, nutritional information, and videos to help volunteers understand the importance of a balanced diet and how to incorporate it into meal planning. We have also created the Eating Well Guide for guests, which offers tips on cooking from scratch, shopping smartly to reduce food waste, and affordable recipes to inspire healthy cooking at home. Learn more here

With FoodCloud, we deliver an expert-led nutrition programme to support over 700 community and voluntary organisations. This programme includes tailored nutritional guidance, recipes, and webinars led by our registered dietitians and nutritionists. By providing these resources, we help community groups turn surplus food into nutritious meals, ensuring that more people have access to healthy food options. Our partnership with FoodCloud not only helps reduce food waste but also supports the nutritional needs of diverse communities across Ireland. Learn more here.

Reducing food waste in our operations

In the UK and Ireland, we have committed, in line with The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) Target Measure Act Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, to reduce our food waste by 50% across our operations by 2030 (based on a 2019 baseline). We are raising employee awareness of the impact of food waste through internal food waste campaigns.

Reducing food waste in the home

To help reduce food waste in the home, we are moving from 'Use by' to 'Best before' dates on our fresh yogurts, as they are still safe to eat beyond this date. We are working with social impact company, Too Good to Go, to increase consumer knowledge and confidence about the difference between these consumption dates.

Reducing food poverty through surplus donations 

Over one third of all food produced globally is wasted each year. Yet, profound food poverty sees millions of people around the world struggling to access food when they need it. According to WRAP, as of January 2024, 18.2% of households in the UK were 'food insecure', meaning they ate less or went a day without eating because they couldn't access or afford food. We believe we have a role to play in tackling food poverty. 

In our ongoing efforts to combat food waste, we are committed to diverting surplus food to those in need. We collaborate with FareShare, the UK's largest charity fighting hunger and food waste. In 2024, we donated over 1.5 million meals (653 tonnes). FareShare redistributes good-to-eat surplus food to frontline charities and community groups across the UK, ensuring that this food reaches vulnerable people instead of going to waste. 

Globally, our social innovation funds do just that, as they pioneer ways to be more inclusive while creating value for Danone by:

• Finding solutions to social, health and environmental challenges
• Generating innovative social, sustainable and inclusive business models
• Reinventing our relationship with key stakeholders through collaboration and co-creation

Danone Communities

The Danone Communities Venture Capital fund has invested in social businesses since 2007. It works to empower innovative social entrepreneurs who focus on giving vulnerable populations access to quality food and safe drinking water locally. It provides capital, networking opportunities and technical and managerial expertise to support entrepreneurs in achieving sustainable social impact, improving the health of more than 11 million people across 25 countries every day. In France, the fund has been supporting families living beneath the poverty line to improve eating habits for the first 1000 days of a child's life. ​
Find out more.

Livelihoods Funds

Danone supports Livelihoods Funds as they invest in large-scale projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The investment funds are designed to support the efforts of farmers and rural communities to live in sustainable ecosystems which ensure their food security and provide livelihoods. Find out more.

Danone Ecosystem Fund

The Danone Ecosystem Fund co-creates projects that respond to local challenges where Danone operates, working alongside NGOs and local businesses. Since 2009, they have co-created more than 100 projects, providing organisational know-how, technical expertise and financing support.

The Danone Ecosystem projects aim for a positive and systemic impact on people, health and planet through the empowerment of professionals such as farmers, waste-pickers and healthcare professionals. To date, over 76,000 professionals have been trained, creating a ripple effect through an ecosystem of 5.5 million people. You can stay up to date with the Danone Ecosystem projects here.

Early Years Nutrition Partnership (ENYP)

In the UK, the Danone Ecosystem Fund helped Nutricia UK and its local partner Pre‑school Learning Alliance (now Early Years Alliance) co-create the Early Years Nutrition Partnership programme. The EYNP aims to improve the future health outcomes of young children by setting a standard for nutrition practice in early years. An integral part of the programme is a commitment to support communities with high need. The goal is to provide every child aged under five in England with access to expert nutritional support. 

EYNP helps nutrition professionals (Registered Nutritionists and Dietitians) expand their competencies in early years nutrition. The programme includes the "EYN Partnership Quality Mark" accreditation and upskilling opportunities such as undertaking a Level 3 CACHE award in nutrition and hydration in the early years. Nutrition professionals who have participated can build networks in their own areas,  providing parents with ‘hands-on’ advice that is tailored to the specific needs of children aged under five.

The project was handed over in 2019 to the Early Years Learning Alliance and is now independent. Find out more.