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West Jordan • Dannon traces its history to early 20th century Spain, where customers bought yogurt through pharmacies as a medicinal treatment for digestive ailments.
Today, the world's largest yogurt maker is ramping up production at its West Jordan plant in an effort to expand its market share in the western U.S.
Dannon spokesman Michael Neuwirth calls the plant a beachhead to the West. Although the company has strong sales along the East Coast, the entire U.S. market is considered underdeveloped, with yogurt consumption six times lower than in western Europe.
Company officials point to Spain and France, where annual per capita yogurt consumption is 70 pounds to 80 pounds, compared with less than 12 pounds in the United States.
Dannon opened the Utah plant in 1997 as a bottled water facility. By 2000, the plant was manufacturing yogurt exclusively under the Activia, Dannon, Light& Fit, Dan-o-nino and Danimal brands.
Dannon's parent company, Paris-based Danone, also is moving to buy the frozen-yogurt maker YoCream International, based in Portland, Ore. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of this year. YoCream will continue to be marketed under its own brand, similar to the StoneyField Farms yogurt acquisition a decade ago.
With the acquisition, company officials are hoping to triple U.S. sales, to $3 billion annually, within the next several years, said Neuwirth.
Besides the Danone and Dannon brands of yogurt, the company owns several internationally known brands of bottled water, including Evian and Volvic.
"We are fortunate to be in a sector of the food industry that is growing, in part because of continued interest in better-for-you and convenience foods," said Neuwirth."
To facilitate increased production, the West Jordan plant is replacing its water treatment system. Within six months, yogurt production is expected to increase from 145 tons to 242 tons annually, with further expansion capabilities up to 500 tons.
Two years ago, Dannon received $8.5 million in tax incentives from the state when it expanded its plant to 400,000 square feet. This year, plans call for another production line to be added and for a fully automated 30,000-square-foot warehouse, which is scheduled to be completed by August, said plant director Scott Corsetti.
Corsetti recently transferred from a Dannon plant in Ohio, which is among the world's largest, where 7 million cups of yogurt are manufactured each day. The Utah plant makes about a third of that amount.
Dannon has about 250 employees in Utah, and Corsetti said there are openings for automation engineers, production operators and equipment maintenance workers. (For qualifications and specific openings, visit Dannon.com.)
"We want to hire Utahns and people from the Salt Lake area," he said. "We also want to give local companies all the business that we can."
Danone has developed a corporate culture called CODE, for commitment, openness, doing and empowerment. Corsetti takes pride in walking production lines and forgoing a separate office.
All team leaders occupy desks in an open area that has no partitions or cubicles. A visitor would be hard pressed to pick out Corsetti's corner.
Workers can relax in a spacious break room, which has a pool table, exercise equipment, kitchen area and a refrigerator filled with complimentary yogurt.
The original company bearing the corporate name was founded in 1919 by Isaac Carasso in Barcelona, Spain. He named his yogurt factory Danone, a variation on the Catalan nickname of his son, Daniel, who expanded the business into France.
The elder Carasso, a Spanish physician, initially sold yogurt through pharmacies as a medicine.
This year, the company went full circle when it became the subject of a lawsuit involving health claims for its Activia and DanActive brand yogurts.
On Wednesday, Dannon agreed to pay $21 million and drop some claims in settlements with state and federal regulators. The company had claimed that beneficial bacteria in its Activia yogurt help relieve irregularity and that its DanActive dairy drink helps people avoid catching colds or the flu. The Federal Trade Commission said there is not enough evidence to back those claims. Attorneys general from 39 states also announced that they had reached a $21 million settlement with the foodmaker over the marketing claims. Utah was not involved.
Dannon facts:
Products • Yogurt, bottled water, baby foods, medical nutrition
Utah plant • West Jordan, employs 250 workers
Worldwide • Other U.S. facilities in Texas and Ohio; 160 plants overseas
Parent firm • Danone based in Paris (USA Dannon, White Plains, N.Y.)
Sales • $20 billion annually
For information on job openings • Visit Dannon.com