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| The Dannon Company Recognizes Business Partners with Suppliers of the Year Awards |
| January 23, 2008 |
| White Plains, N.Y. |
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At a gala dinner at the world-famous Rainbow Room in New York City last night, The Dannon Company hosted ten of its business partners to award the first-ever Dannon Supplier of the Year Awards. A total of six awards were bestowed in the categories of Goods & Services, awarded to MPG, Raw Materials and Packaging, awarded to Klðckner Pentaplast, Capital Investment, awarded to ARCIL, Best Quality, awarded to Chr. Hansen, Most Improved, awarded to Huhtamaki, and the overall Supplier of the Year, awarded to Graham Packaging. "We have tremendous respect for our business partners and are grateful for the contributions they make to our success," said Francois Blanckaert, Vice President of Sourcing and Supplier Development for The Dannon Company. The criteria Dannon established to assess Award nominees included improvements in quality and safety, improvements in cost, accelerating 'time to market' of new or renovated products, boosts to innovation, protection of competitive advantage, and the demonstration of shared values in the relationship with Dannon. Nominees for the Awards were evaluated by cross-functional taskforce at Dannon and the final selection of Award winners was made by the entire Dannon Executive Committee. "It is our philosophy that the Sourcing and Supplier Development teams must enhance the relationship with our business partners," said Francois Blanckaert, Vice President of Sourcing and Supplier Development for The Dannon Company. "Rather than examining only cost or the transactional value of our relationships, we look at total value creation. We know that innovation will come not only from within Dannon or Groupe Danone but also from externally via our business partners. So, through close relationships and through improved recognition of our partners, we are in effect bringing the outside inside. It is an evolution of the traditional purchasing function." The Supplier of the Year Awards is representative of Dannon's new thinking about rewarding beyond a traditional, transactional dollar-based methodology. About The Dannon Company, Inc. The Dannon Company is America's founding national yogurt company and continually leverages its expertise to develop and market innovative cultured fresh dairy products in the United States. Headquartered in White Plains, NY, Dannon has plants in Minster, OH, Fort Worth, TX, and West Jordan, UT. The company produces and sells approximately 100 different types of flavors, styles and sizes of cultured fresh dairy products. Dannon is owned by Groupe Danone, one of the world's leading producers of packaged foods and beverages, and Dannon is the top-selling brand of yogurt products worldwide, sold under the names Dannon and Danone. With a strong commitment to high-quality, wholesome, nutritious and innovative products, The Dannon Company is committed to encouraging healthy eating and living. This commitment is also illustrated through The Dannon Company's support of the Dannon Institute, an independent, non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting research, education, and communication about the links between nutrition, diet and health. For more information, please visit www.dannon.com. Media Contact: Megan Parke Edelman Office Tel: (212) 819-4847 |
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