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DANONE
REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2015
Danone's business highlights in 2015 and outlook for 2016
3.1 Business highlights in 2015
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Danone has also developed awareness programs on the benefits
of water aimed at children, particularly in Indonesia in partnership
with the Ministry of Health (by including the urine color chart in
children's health notebooks).
Early Life Nutrition
The Group has pursued its research on diet in the first 1,000 days
of life, particularly in the following areas:
•
benefits of breast milk and lactation;
•
maternal physiology during pregnancy and lactation;
•
metabolism of infants and young children;
•
development of gut function and microbiota, the immune system
and the brain;
•
development of healthy eating habits; and
•
product development and technology to apply science to products.
To that end, Danone Nutricia Research works closely with a global
network of collaborators – from opinion leaders in a specific area to
healthcare professionals, scientists and policymakers. The strength
of this network enables the development of adapted products that
are nutritionally optimal for each stage of the first 1,000 days of life.
In 2015, the research teams at Danone Nutricia Research launched
research projects in the fields of immune development, gut devel-
opment and metabolism of infants and young children. In addition,
the nutrition research teams continued their investigations to
identify local nutritional issues and eating habits of young children
and pregnant women, and launched a research project to define
the role of growing-up milk in young children's dietary intake of
iron and vitamin D.
Medical Nutrition
The Medical Nutrition Division's Research and Development de-
partment strives to develop products whose nutritional benefits
help people live longer, healthier lives. In particular, Danone's
teams focus on memory and brain health, frailty and muscle health
among the elderly, and allergies and immune health starting in the
early stages of life. A clinical study program was developed with
external partners to evaluate various products effectiveness. In
2015, Danone published the results of several studies, including
the study on age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and func-
tion (PROVIDE) which was published in the
Journal of the American
Medical Directors Association
(JAMDA).
To improve the patient experience, Danone has also conducted
research on optimizing taste and offering more variety in products
such as Souvenaid® (for patients with Alzheimer's disease), Ana-
mix® (for patients with inborn metabolism disorder) and Compact
(for patients suffering from malnutrition).
Legal arbitration proceedings
The Company and its subsidiaries are parties to legal proceedings
arising in the normal course of business, in particular by compe-
tition authorities in certain countries. Provisions are recognized
when an outflow of resources is probable and the amount can be
reliably estimated.
Proceedings related to the false safety alert issued
by Fonterra with respect to certain ingredients
supplied to Danone in Asia in 2013
See Note 6.2 of the Notes to the consolidated financial statements.
Proceedings related to the decision of the Spanish
National Authority for Markets and Competition
See Note 6.5 of the Notes to the consolidated financial statements.
Other proceedings
To the best of Danone's knowledge, no other governmental, court or
arbitration proceedings are currently ongoing that are likely to have,
or have had in the past 12 months, a material impact on Danone's
financial position or profitability.
Major contracts and related party transactions
Danone granted put options to third parties with non-controlling
interests in certain consolidated subsidiaries, with these options
giving the holders the right to sell part or all of their investment in
these subsidiaries.
As of December 31, 2015, financial liabilities related to these options
totaled €862 million and are classified as financial debt.
Related party transactions are described in Note 15 of the Notes to
the consolidated financial statements.
See also section 6.
5 Statutory auditors' special report on related party
agreements and commitments
.