The 2018 Non-GMO Sourcebook

NON-GMO MARKET NEWS

process as we’ve progressed. We have a sophisticated process but we have been pleased with the process. Segregation was the most impor- tant thing, from the seed to the cup.” Dannon had to install stain- less steel storage tanks to keep non-GMO milk segregated from other milk supplies. The company also replaced GMO- risk beet sugar with cane sugar and substituted some preserva- tives such as potassium sorbate and malic acid with lemon juice concentrate to simplify the ingredients for a “cleaner” label. Dannon is well on its way to achieving its Pledge goals. By the end of 2017, all Dan- non brand products contained only non-GMO ingredients and are made with milk from cows fed non-GMO feed. Products from the Oikos and Danimals brands will follow by the end of 2018. These three brands represent about half of Dannon’s U.S. sales volume. According to Neuwirth, Dannon’s market share has increased since the company announced the Pledge in 2016. Another aspect of Dannon’s Pledge is GMO transparency. Since the end of 2016, Dan- non has started labeling all of its products containing GMO ingredients. These products contain the label statement “Partially produced with ge- netic engineering.” Neuwirth says the Dannon Pledge is “about doing right by our consumers and farmers and also our business. It’s helping us provide more options to shoppers, and they recognize and appreciate that, and are responding to it. It’s been a great journey for us.” ( This article originally appeared in the July/August 2017 issue of The Organic & Non-GMO Report)

Dannon reaching non-GMO milestones to achieve company Pledge Yogurt maker successfully sourcing non-GMO feed for dairy cows; introduces first Non-GMO Project verified products B Y K E N R O S E B O R O L eading U.S. yogurt maker Dannon is mov- ing according to plan on its pledge to source non-GMO ingredients for its prod- ucts and to use milk from non-GMO fed cows. The company, which is the leading yogurt brand in the U.S., reached a significant mile- stone in 2017, achieving Non-GMO Project verification of several Dannon yogurt and “Danimals” smoothie products.

Carty, co-owner and manager of McCarty Family Farms, a few months ago. But Dannon will face an- other challenge next year when it moves its Oikos Greek yogurt products to non-GMO production because Greek yo- gurt uses three times as much milk as traditional yogurt. Still, Neuwirth is confident. “We now have the benefit of fig- uring out the feed issue for Dani- mals and Dannon. We are more experienced.” Sourcing milk from non- GMO fed cows separates Dan- non from its biggest competitor, Chobani, which uses non-GMO ingredients but not non-GMO feed. Chobani announced a com- mitment to source non-GMO feed in 2014 but has not achieved that goal. Non-GMO Project veri- fication Using non-GMO feed is one of the requirements for Non- GMO Project verification, which Dannon recently achieved for several products. These include Dannon Whole Milk Fruit Yogurt in eight fla- vors, Dannon Whole Milk Plain Yogurt in quart contain- ers, and Danimals Smoothies in six flavors. Vincent Crasnier, Dannon Pledge lead, says the Non- GMO Project verification has gone smoothly. “We’ve been learning the

conversion of an estimated 80,000 acres to non-GMO feed crops. “It seemed at the time it would be a challenge because we hadn’t done it before,” says Michael Neuwirth, Dannon’s senior director of external communication. “We had to use creativity, insights, and resources to find solutions.” Dannon used a combina- tion of approaches including purchasing non-GMO feed on the open market, using feed supplies of their own farmers, and finding farmers who grow non-GMO feed grains. One of Dannon’s largest milk suppliers, Kansas-based McCarty Family Farms, suc- cessfully worked with its farm partners and had other farm- ers offer to sell them non- GMO feed. “Thus far the challenges as- sociated with sourcing non- GMO feed have been few and far between,” said Ken Mc-

Non-GMO feed chal- lenge In 2016, Dannon announced its ambitious “Dannon Pledge,” which included com- mitments to use natural, non- GMO ingredients in its yogurt products, source non-GMO feed for its dairy cows, provide GMO transparency to con- sumers, and use more sustain- able agriculture practices in its milk supply. One of the biggest chal- lenges was said to be sourc- ing enough non-GMO feed to meet the needs of Dan- non’s dairy producers. An es- timated 90 percent of feed produced in the U.S. is de- rived from genetically modi- fied crops such as corn, soy, and alfalfa. There were doubts that enough non- GMO feed was available. Dannon CEO Mariano Lozano had described the feed initiative as a “massive undertaking,” involving the

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