Danone launches ‘Fundooz’ – new category milk based kids’ products from its Base of Pyramid business unit

Danone launches ‘Fundooz’ – new category milk based kids’ products from its Base of Pyramid business unit

~ Fundooz to be manufactured at Danone’s first state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in India at Rai Industrial Area, Sonepat, Haryana ~

Danone, the World’s No.1 fresh dairy company, has launched ‘Fundooz’ – a tasty, healthy and affordable food brand for school-going children, as part of its mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible. With this, Danone’s first ever Base of Pyramid (BoP) Country Business Unit (CBU) in India, aims to innovate at various levels to be able to offer suitable products for the BoP population.

‘Fundooz’ will be manufactured at Danone’s first state-of-art manufacturing facility in India located at Sonepat, Haryana. Competitively priced, ‘Fundooz’ has been initially launched in a phased manner across select outlets of Delhi NCR and Haryana including Delhi, Gurgaon, Panipat, Faridabad, Sonepat, and Ambala.

Speaking about the new brand launch, Mr. Eric Soubeiran, Director, Danone BoP India said, “Fundooz is the result of close to three years’ work to understand the food habits and nutritional deficiencies in India, particularly among young children, and we feel we can make a positive contribution here. All Fundooz products are milk based and fortified with key nutrients like Vitamin A, Iron, Zinc and Iodine. At the same time we have ensured that the taste is to the liking of children and that the pricing is suitable and affordable for our target consumers.”

Danone BOP will be launching 2 products under the brand Fundooz - Yum Creamy, a creamy and nutritional Fresh Dairy Treat for kids. Yum Creamy will be available in a convenient and handy cup packaging in 2 popular flavours - Strawberry and Vanilla. and Yum Chuski, a thick and filling anytime Treat in an exciting ‘squeeze & munch’ packaging available in all time kid’s favourite Chocolate and popular Kulfi flavours. Yum Creamy will be available at Rs 10 for 80g while Yum Chuski will be priced at Rs 5 for 70g. 

In the initial phase, ‘Fundooz’ will be retailed in nearly 1200 outlets, with brand connect and availability expected to drive sales. Further to market ‘Fundooz’, Danone BOP India has drawn up an extensive marketing communication campaign that includes extensive below-the-line consumer engagement activities along with outdoor activation in hi-traffic zones, experiential sampling across 40,000 household across six cities, road shows for direct contact with 20,000 consumers. To amplify the buzz, Danone India has rolled out innovative branded coolers and branded carts, which will go around the cities to retail out ‘Fundooz’.

Speaking about the new business unit, Mr Soubeiran said, “The new BOP country business unit of Danone is aimed at providing healthy and affordable products for mass consumers. This marks the strengthening of our commitment to India, Danone BOP India is the first illustration of a BOP business model. ‘Affordability’ is one of the key objectives for the BoP business model and we are innovating at various levels from manufacturing to distribution, to ensure we offer high quality yet affordable products. For instance, our manufacturing facility at Rai is a state-of-the-art, rightly invested manufacturing unit which will serve a 300km radial area, helping us control manufacturing overheads and distribution costs. This would also help in engaging actively with the local population for better backward integration and in a more controlled, faster and efficient distribution network, ensuring consumers get fresher products with longer shelf life.”

The Danone BoP business model has developed and launched ‘first-time-in-dairy’ distribution channels with an aim to reach out to consumers directly, ensuring efficiency and quality in the network. The company has a dedicated R&D team working continuously on product development to meet the objectives of Taste, Health and Affordability. ‘Fundooz’ has successfully innovated on product development with a new stabilization system for the product through the use of local ingredients like rice and wheat flour. The new business unit is aimed at providing flexibility and agility to quickly replicate the model in the future.

The marketing plans for ‘Fundooz’ focus on efficient reach, high impact and minimal spills. The company is looking at direct consumer contact programs and associations with institutions for spreading awareness about healthy food options for young children.

For further information, please contact:

Atul Malikram

9827092823