Danone has confirmed it pulled two plant-based milk options from US shelves last year.
The France-based dairy manufacturer said it stopped selling Silk Nextmilk and So Delicious Dairy Free Wondermilk in the US.
“After some time on shelves, we made the difficult decision to discontinue Silk Nextmilk and So Delicious Dairy Free Wondermilk in 2023,” the company told Just Food.
“We are prioritising our efforts on innovation across our product portfolio to deliver on evolving consumer preferences, including functional and nutritional needs.”
Danone has declined to comment on the date when it pulled the products from the shelves.
The Alpro brand owner pointed to efforts to expand its Silk Protein range to include an oat variant “with 50% less sugar and 50% more calcium than dairy milk”.
Earlier in February, Danone had pointed to a “sequential improvement” in volumes as the dairy giant works through a strategy to weed out underperforming product lines.
Volumes in 2022 fell 0.8%, more pronounced than the 0.6% decline the previous year, as the company raised prices to offset inflationary cost inputs from ingredients, packaging and labour.
Profit margins also took a bigger hit under CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique’s SKU rationalisation project, which has been primarily focused on getting the Danone’s European essential dairy and plant-based business (EDP) “back to where it belongs”.
As a key thrust behind the strategy instigated since becoming CEO in the autumn of 2021, de Saint-Affrique seeks to transform EDP into a “growing competitive and innovative business”.
Presenting full-year results on 22 February, de Saint-Affrique said: “We are engaged in the transformation and the repositioning of our EDP portfolio in Europe. We started this journey in the back end of ‘22. This work is not about short-term and easy fixes. The transformation is also about putting greater focus on the benefit and functionality of our brands and products.
“Our transformation is about streamlining and a more focused portfolio. And while this strategic alignment will continue impacting our volume in the short term and take more time to be fully visible on shelf, we have already started making structural choices across countries.”
De Saint-Affrique added: “Expect us to keep focusing on fixing what needs to be fixed and do it with courage and determination. Committing to more active portfolio management with focus on the parts of our portfolio which either do not fit with our strategy or where we believe there is no credible path to sustainable value creation.”
Last month, loss-making Oatly had booked a hefty impairment charge related to last year’s decision not to proceed with the construction of three manufacturing plants.
The company’s decision to abandon plans for additional sites in Peterborough, in the UK, another in the US city of Fort Worth and a third in China, has come at a cost.
In the fourth quarter to 31 December, Nasdaq-listed Oatly booked a non-cash impairment charge of $172.6m and “other costs” of $29m, “related to discontinued construction of certain production facilities”.
“The company may incur additional costs not currently contemplated due to events associated with the discontinuation of construction at these facilities,” according to Oatly’s results commentary.
