With the launch of “Bio de Danone Réunion”, the first organic yogurts produced in Reunion Island appear on supermarket shelves in May. Danone Réunion makes organic yogurt accessible to as many people as possible, providing the first local response on an industrial scale to the new expectations of Reunion consumers.
It’s a small revolution in the fresh produce section : after the vegetables, eggs and soy … Danone Réunion organic yogurts are the first ultra-fresh organic products from the Réunion agri-food industry. “We analyzed the needs of the market, and the result is clear : in Reunion Island 84% of Reunionese households buy organic food, 6 out of 10 households buy them occasionally and a quarter buy them regularly*” explains François Amiot, director of Danone Réunion. “We chose to take the plunge, he continues, even if you should know that the manufacture of organic yogurt generates strong industrial constraints. We therefore had to review the scheduling of our production, our Port factory also had to be approved, the controlled raw material and the production and storage process certified by Ecocert, an international control body, which issues the famous AB label “Product from Organic Agriculture”. A significant implication and a challenge for Danone Réunion for a restricted market, which explains why the arrival of locally produced organic yogurts only occurs today. This new local production will give Reunion Islanders access to organic yogurts up to half the price of imported yogurts., making a product previously reserved for the wealthiest households accessible to all budgets.
Organic and of French origin
But affixing an organic label is not everything. The other challenge that Danone Réunion took on to launch the production of organic yogurt locally is that of sourcing raw materials.. On our island, fresh milk resources currently cover only 25% of Reunion consumption needs. Waiting for the arrival of fresh local organic milk, Danone Réunion has chosen to produce its new yogurts using reconstituted organic milk, exclusively from French farms where strict regulations around organic standards guarantee high quality milk.
A response to consumer expectations
Price, ethics and quality : at a time when consumers are increasingly paying attention to the quality and origin of the products they put on their plate, the arrival of the first organic yogurts produced on the island is good news for Reunion Islanders. Organic in fact meets new consumer expectations : eat less and healthier, (a need all the more reinforced by the health situation) and eat more responsibly. Choose organic, it also means working for animal welfare. Indeed, animals from organic farms access pastures as soon as the weather permits, their food is organic without GMOs and alternative medicines are favored.
Le Bio de Danone Réunion” will be available at the beginning of May 2021 in two references : plain and Bourbon vanilla. Simple recipes, without coloring or preservative, and a delicious, very soft and melt-in-the-mouth yogurt.
“THE ORGANIC OF DANONE RÉUNION”
will be available at the beginning of May 2021 in two references : plain and Bourbon vanilla. Simple recipes without coloring or preservatives, and a delicious, very soft and melt-in-the-mouth yogurt
