{{Short description|American food and beverage company}} {{Infobox company | name = Danone North America | former_names = {{plainlist| * WhiteWave Foods<br /> (1977–2017) * DanoneWave (2017–2018) }} | logo = DANONE_LOGO_HORIZONTAL.png | logo_size = 200 | type = Subsidiary | industry = Food | fate = '''As WhiteWave Foods:'''<br>Acquired by Dean Foods in 2002, then in 2016 by Danone | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = {{start date and age|1977}} in Boulder, Colorado | founder = Steve Demos | defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | location_city = Broomfield, Colorado | location_country = U.S. | locations = <!-- Number of --> | area_served = North America and Europe | key_people = | products = | production = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | aum = <!-- Only for financial services companies --> | parent = {{plainlist| * Danone (2017–present) * Dean Foods (2002–2013) }} | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = 3,800 | divisions = | subsid = {{plainlist| * Alpro * Horizon Organic }} | brands = {{plainlist| * Silk * International Delight }} | homepage = {{URL|https://www.danonenorthamerica.com/|danonenorthamerica.com}} | footnotes = | bodystyle = }} '''Danone North America''' is a consumer packaged food and beverage company based in White Plains, New York, U.S, that manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells branded premium dairy products, plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers, and organic produce throughout North America and Europe.
WhiteWave was purchased by French conglomerate Danone in 2017<ref>{{Cite web |title=Danone seals the deal with WhiteWave |url=https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/9197-danone-seals-the-deal-with-whitewave |access-date=2021-06-05 |website=foodbusinessnews.net |language=en}}</ref> for $12.5 billion, and was then renamed to "DanoneWave".<ref name=nytimes/>
== History == The company was established as "WhiteWave Foods" in 1977 by Steve Demos in Boulder, Colorado, to expand soy into the market.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091115172123/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2001/05/01/302536/index.htm Profile In Persistence] By Bethany Mclean on CNN Business, May 1, 2001</ref>
The company was formerly a subsidiary of Dean Foods, and was spun off in an initial public offering announced in August 2012.<ref name="nytimesbusiness">{{cite news |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/whitewave-foods-company/index.html |title=WhiteWave Foods Company |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=9 September 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://www.deanfoods.com/newsroom/news/dean-foods-announces-spin-off-of-the-whitewave-foods-company/ Dean Foods Announces Spin-Off of The WhiteWave Foods Company], 1 May 2013, Dean Foods press release</ref> Dean Foods had acquired WhiteWave in May 2002.<ref>[https://www.deanfoods.com/newsroom/news/dean-foods-completes-white-wave-transaction/ Dean Foods Completes White Wave Transaction], 9 May 2002</ref><ref>[https://agfundernews.com/dean-foods-goes-bust-thanks-to-a-fatal-error-shying-away-from-alt-milk.html Dean Foods goes bust thanks to a fatal error: shying away from alt-milk. November 13, 2019. Rob Leclerc at AG Funder News]</ref>
WhiteWave acquired Earthbound Farm, America's largest grower of organic produce, on January 2, 2014, for about $600 million.<ref name="earthbound">{{cite news |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/whitewave-foods-company-completes-acquisition-130000934.html |title=The WhiteWave Foods Company Completes Acquisition of Earthbound Farm |publisher=Yahoo! Finance |date=January 3, 2014 |access-date=9 September 2014}}</ref>
In September 2014, WhiteWave announced they were taking over vegan dessert and beverage company, So Delicious.<ref>{{cite web |last=Holland |first=Colleen |url=http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=6558&catId=1 |title=WhiteWave Foods Buys So Delicious Dairy Free |website=Vegnews.com |date=2014-09-19 |access-date=2016-12-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://latestvegannews.com/whitewave-foods-owner-of-silk-and-so-delicious-buys-vega/ |title=WhiteWave Foods, Owner of Silk and So Delicious, Buys Vega |website=Latestvegannews.com |date=2015-06-11 |access-date=2016-12-22 |archive-date=2016-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927154319/http://latestvegannews.com/whitewave-foods-owner-of-silk-and-so-delicious-buys-vega/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitewave.com/who |title=WhiteWave Foods |website=Whitewave.com |access-date=2016-12-22 |archive-date=2016-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129215953/http://www.whitewave.com/who |url-status=dead }}</ref> WhiteWave announced on October 31, 2014, that the So Delicious takeover was complete.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bevnet.com/news/2014/whitewave-foods-company-completes-acquisition-of-so-delicious-dairy-free |title=WhiteWave Foods Company Completes Acquisition of So Delicious Dairy Free |website=BevNET.com |date=2014-11-03 |access-date=2016-12-22}}</ref>
On July 7, 2016, French food and beverage manufacturer Danone announced a $12.5 billion deal to acquire WhiteWave.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/08/business/dealbook/danone-whitewave-deal.html|title=Danone of France to Buy WhiteWave in $10 Billion Deal to Bolster U.S. Portfolio |newspaper=The New York Times |date=7 July 2016 |access-date=2016-12-22 |last1=Strom |first1=Stephanie }}</ref> On August 15, WhiteWave announced a meeting had been scheduled for October 4 for stockholders to vote on the Danone takeover. The WhiteWave board unanimously recommend that the takeover bid be accepted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitewave.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Special-St-H-Mtg-press-release-8.15.2016.pdf |title=WhiteWave Schedules October 4, 2016 Special Meeting for Vote on Merger Agreement with Danone |website=Whitewave.com |access-date=2016-12-22 |archive-date=2016-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927083300/http://www.whitewave.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Special-St-H-Mtg-press-release-8.15.2016.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> On March 31, 2017, Danone announced it had reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice concerning its WhiteWave transaction for $12.5 billion, wherein Danone sold its "Stonyfield dairy subsidiary in the months after the WhiteWave acquisition closes."<ref name=ft-whitewave-deal>{{cite news |last=Agnew |first=Harriet |date=March 31, 2017 |title=Danone to sell US dairy subsidiary to speed up WhiteWave deal |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3825536b-33d3-36aa-adc5-1a28eb098ad2 |work=Financial Times |access-date=April 3, 2017}}</ref> The acquisition was completed in April 2017 and newly formed company was named "DanoneWave" and in April 2018 it was renamed "Danone North America".<ref>{{cite web |last=Cornall |first=Jim |url=https://www.dairyreporter.com/Manufacturers/Danone-completes-acquisition-of-WhiteWave-to-create-DanoneWave |title=Danone completes acquisition of WhiteWave to create DanoneWave |date=12 April 2017 |publisher=Dairyreporter.com |access-date=2017-12-27}}</ref><ref name="renamed DanoneWave">{{cite news |last1=Kaye |first1=Leon |title=Danone North America is Now the Largest B Corp on Earth |url=https://www.triplepundit.com/2018/04/danone-north-america-now-largest-b-corp-earth/ |access-date=18 April 2018 |work=Triple Pundit |date=April 13, 2018}}</ref> It now operates as a subsidiary and the US headquarters remains in Denver.<ref>{{cite news|author=Greg Avery|date=April 6, 2020 |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2020/04/06/danone-north-america-pay-hikes-coronavirus.html |title=Colorado food company hikes pay for production workers|work=Denver Business Journal|access-date=January 29, 2023}} (subscription required)</ref>
== Brands == The company’s brands distributed in North America include Horizon Organic dairy and pantry products, Silk plant-based foods and beverages, Left Field Farms creamer and milk, Stok cold-brew coffee, So Delicious Dairy Free ice cream, Too Good, and International Delight and Land O'Lakes coffee creamers and beverages.<ref>{{cite news |last=Castle |first=Shay |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/14/danone-completes-10-billion-acquisition-of-broomfields-whitewave/ |title=Danone completes $10 billion acquisition of Broomfield's WhiteWave |newspaper=The Denver Post |access-date=2017-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ckx-w7yuvTUC&pg=PT586 |title=Plunkett's Food Industry Almanac 2008 |year=2008 |publisher=Plunkett Research |isbn=9781593921064 |access-date=2017-12-27}}</ref> WhiteWave’s European brands of plant-based foods and beverages include Alpro and Provamel.<ref name="nytimesbusiness" />
==See also== {{portal|Colorado|Food}} *List of food companies
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko |author1-link=William Shurtleff |title=History of Soybeans and Soyfoods: 1100 B.C. to the 1980s (unpublished) |date=2004 |publisher=SoyInfo Center |location=Lafayette, CA |url=https://www.soyinfocenter.com/HSS/white_wave.php |access-date=November 24, 2021 |chapter=History of White Wave, Inc. (Boulder Colorado) (1977-June 1987): Work with Soyfoods}} * {{cite book |last1=Shurtleff |first1=William |last2=Aoyagi |first2=Akiko|author1-link=William Shurtleff |title=History of White Wave, Inc. (1977-2022) |date=September 9, 2022 |publisher=Soyinfo Center |location=Lafayette, CA |isbn=978-1-948436-82-3 |url=https://www.soyinfocenter.com/books/290 |access-date=December 11, 2022}} * {{Official website}} {{Finance links historical | name = WhiteWave Foods | sec_cik = 0001555365 }} {{Danone}} {{authority control}}
Category:Groupe Danone Category:Food and drink companies of the United States Category:Food and drink companies based in Colorado Category:Companies based in Broomfield, Colorado Category:1977 establishments in Colorado Category:Food and drink companies established in 1977 Category:2012 initial public offerings Category:2017 mergers and acquisitions Category:American subsidiaries of foreign companies Category:Certified B Corporations in the Food & Beverage Industry Category:Corporate spin-offs Category:Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Category:Soy products