Luis Ceriotto
10/19/2020 12:13 PM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 10/19/2020 12:13 PM
The bad results that had been accumulating in several of its businesses within the country before the pandemic led to a laconic and drastic communication from its headquarters: the multinational of French origin Danone reported this Monday that it had
put
some of its businesses in all over the world,
including its Argentine subsidiary
.
"The Danone Group will strategically review the performance of some assets; and
Argentina is part of that review strategy
," said Danone Argentina through a communication.
"As a company, we constantly review our portfolio to ensure that it is aligned with our goals and objectives. This process
is about to begin
and, therefore, does not imply any concrete option."
The communication that its businesses in Argentina are "under review" was made this Monday by the executive director of Danone in France,
Cecile Cabanis
, when presenting the quarterly global results.
Although it is not the only country where her permanence was under scrutiny (she also mentioned a brand, Vega, within the United States), the executive's message was that
Argentina is being targeted
.
Other subsidiaries of the group
were not even mentioned
.
With more than 25 years of presence, Danone is one of the main food and beverage companies in the country, owner of
factories for dairy products, nutrition products and water bottlers.
He is also a shareholder in the cookie business, under the
Bagley
brand
.
Sources close to the company assured that the dairy business, with its Danone and Danonino brands (among others)
had been accumulating significant losses for three years at the beginning of 2020
and the context of
pandemic and economic instability
accentuated the poor results.
Since arriving in the country, Danone has had a strategic alliance with
La Serenísima,
from which it had bought its yogurt and dessert division, which it produces at the Longchamps plant, in the southern suburbs.
The distribution of the products is coordinated from a logistics area located in the General Rodríguez district, where the La Serenísima dairy works.
In mineral waters, Danone Argentina is the
number one in
the market, with the
Villavicencio
brands
,
which it bottles in Las Heras (Mendoza) and
Villa del Sur
, with a bottling plant in Chascomús.
"In waters the results are less bad than in dairy, but for two years they have not produced good numbers either," added the sources.
The company also owns the
Kasdorf
plant
in Garin, in the northern zone, where it produces specialized infant nutrition products in two areas, "early" and "medical" nutrition.
Danone was also the buyer of the emblematic brand of
Bagley
cookies
,
in 1994, but today that business is shared in a joint venture with the local
Arcor,
which is in charge of managing the business.
Among all of its direct businesses, not counting cookies, the company employs
5,000 people
.
"There is still nothing in concrete, but it will be necessary to be very attentive to the directives that arrive from France", added the sources.