North America

The mission of the North American Research & Development teams is to develop innovative products responding to the needs of US and Canadian consumers

Main expertises and activities:
- adapt the blockbuster brands like Danactive (Actimel) or Activia in terms of both product and packaging for US and Canadian markets
- strengthen the scientific body of evidence for the claims by running clinical tests and developing scientific partnership in the academic world or with third parties with specific and specialized knowledge
- The R&D team also contributes to the capacity expansion program by supporting the start up of new lines in our own plants

Key figures:
3 sites: 2 in the US; 1 in Canada
30 engineers, technicians and scientists
Facilities: pilot plant, laboratory and sensory panel

Argentina

Since 1997, the R&D Argentina teams' mission has been to deploy the Group's principal health brands in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, and to develop economically-accessible products that are adapted to local nutritional needs.

Principal business and expertise:
- formulation, packaging, nutrition
- set up of clinical trials in liaison with the Daniel Carasso Center's teams, in order to provide local scientific support for product claims
- strong involvement in local scientific networks and with the health authorities in order to contribute to improving public nutrition

Skills:
- 22 process engineers, agri-food specialists, biochemists, support functions
- 900 m² including a pilot plant and two laboratories  

France - Danone Research

Danone Research – Daniel Carasso Center, France (Palaiseau), is the DANONE Group's principal research center. Its mission: designing appetizing balanced products procuring a health benefit. The center acts as a strong catalyst for innovation for all the Group's brands worldwide.

Principal business and expertise:
- Studying probiotic strains and their interaction with the intestinal flora
- Functional formulation
- Clinical research
- Human physiology
- Consumer science

Key figures:
- 360 scientists: nutritionists, food engineers, microbiologists, molecular biologists, biochemists, specialists in sensory evaluation and the study of consumer behavior, etc.
- 200 scientific partnerships

France - Packaging platform, Evian

Installed in the historic Evian-la-Gare plant (built in 1954), the Packaging teams of the Waters unit have the mission of developing innovative packagings that are both attractive to consumers and increasingly compliant with the principles of sustainable development.

Principal business and expertise:
- Designing new forms of PET bottles for all the Waters subsidiaries worldwide through to industrial and logistic validation.
- Manufacturing prototype packagings using injection-blowing technology or heat forming (pilot plant) and virtual prototyping on heat-formed bottles and pots (digital simulation).
- Developing new, innovative capping and immediate packaging systems in cooperation with suppliers.
- Technical expertise in the field of plastics (PET, HDPE, PS, PP, etc.) for the Danone group.

Spain

The Barcelona R&D center is housed in the facilities of Danone's first large plant in Spain. Built in 1942, the plant was relocated close to the city in 1983, where it became the emblematic Isaac and Daniel Carasso Research Center.

Principal business and expertise:
- Research and Development for fresh dairy products intended for the countries of southern Europe and the Africa – Middle East zone: traditional yogurts and desserts, Greek yogurts; functional ranges in pots or as drinks (Actimel, Activia, Vitalinea), and fresh products for children.
- Research, development and finalization of ingredients suitable for constitution of an alternative to milk, such as fruit, soy.
- Research on technologies and processes to create lactic acid bacteria and probiotics, using various forms of preservation (fresh, frozen and freeze-dried).