Danone, which had purchased India-based Wockhardt's nutrition business for INR12.80bn, intends to double the domestic baby and medical nutrition business over the next three to four years.
Earlier in 2012, the French dairy major acquired Wockhardt's various brands under its nutrition business, including Farex, Protinex, Dexolac and Nusobee, and named the entity as Nutricia International.
Danone Group firm Nutricia International managing director Laurent Marcel was quoted by business-standard.com as saying to PTI that the domestic baby nutrition and medical nutrition is growing at 15-20% and they will leverage on the existing brands in the first phase.
"We know factories will be reaching full capacity soon. So we will have to plan the next step of investment. We will invest for sure, but I cannot share the numbers. Our plan is to keep manufacturing here, so we will have to invest in production facilities in the coming years," he added.
"The baby nutrition is small in this market. Globally, it is a 3-4 billion euro business. Very soon, India will also become a good contributor to our global sales. When you compare sales from this market to our total sales, it is small but the potential to grow is probably one of the best in the world."
Danone sells baby nutrition products in 137 nations with a considerable presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The company's baby nutrition brands include Aptamil, Bledina, Dumex, Gallia, Milupa and SGM.
