Protecting water resources

Water is fundamental to human health, but it is becoming an increasingly limited resource. Today, over 2.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water. As a global food and beverage company, we are working to preserve and restore local watersheds, reduce water use across our value chain, and expand access to safe drinking water.

Find out more about our water stewardship initiatives at Danone.

This section provides corporate information about Danone’s strategy, governance and related disclosures. It is intended for stakeholders seeking information about Danone at company level and does not constitute product or brand communication.

Advancing water stewardship

Building on decades of water expertise, we support the transition to water and climate resilient food systems by applying science-based practices, partnering with local communities, and driving collective action to safeguard the full water cycle.

In 2025, Danone publicly launched SPRING, a water stewardship methodology co-developed with the Ramsar Convention and IUCN to share our long standing expertise. This tool gives each factory a tailored framework with three-year action plans, progress tracking and knowledge sharing.

Learn more about SPRING

Our initiatives in action

In 2025, we achieved our goal to deploy 4R strategy to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and/or Reclaim the water in 99.3% of our production sites, representing more than 700 water-saving projects or activities. Each site follows a tailored plan to optimize water use based on watershed stress, context, and regulations.

4R program

Reduce: cut the total volume of water needed to run operations.
Reuse: directly reuse “rejected water streams” from one application to another.
Recycle: clean “rejected water streams” to meet specific quality standards and reuse them.
Reclaim: treat wastewater up to a defined water grade for reuse in the plant or around in the same watershed.

^99.3 %

of Danone production sites had an active 4R plan to reduce our overall water footprint in 2025

Managing watersheds

Ecosystems preservation and community resilience

Approximately 60 of our watersheds are located in areas facing significant water stress, where demand often exceeds availability. Our hydrogeologists and environmental experts implement programs to foster the natural renewal of these water resources by strengthening the surrounding ecosystems and the resilience of local water governance.

Between 2020 and 2025, we initiated more than 25 watershed preservation actions involving stakeholders.

Our initiatives include nature-based solutions like agroforestry and wetland restoration. Agroforesty combines forestry, agriculture, and pastoralism. This approach may help limit soil erosion, support water infiltration, and contribute to water quality, with potential links to biodiversity and smallholder farmer livelihoods.

Water in supply chain

At Danone, we engage with suppliers on topics related to water management across our value chain. On one hand, in agriculture, this relates to farming practices including approaches linked to water use and irrigation methods adapted to local conditions. On the other hand, all our non-farmer suppliers are required to have water management system in place to ensure water is used efficiently and no toxic wastewater is released to the environment.

Access to safe drinking water

Safe drinking water is essential for health. Yet 2,2 billion people still lack access to it.

Danone Communities invests in innovative social enterprises that deliver affordable safe drinking water to vulnerable populations, providing both funding and long-term expertise. Building on 15 years of expertise in water access, Danone and Incofin launched the Water Access Acceleration Fund (W2AF) in 2023.

Through Danone Communities and the Water Access Acceleration Fund, we support innovative local businesses like Naandi water treatment kiosks in India, and Nazava water filters in Indonesia. These enterprises offer scalable solutions for sustainable health impacts such asreducing waterborne diseases This aligns with Danone’s mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible.

³⁰ m

We’re committed to provide 30 million vulnerable people with access to safe drinking water by 2030

thanks to the social businesses supported or previously supported by Danone Communities and the Water Access Acceleration Fund (W2AF).

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