WRI CASE STUDY | 1 Case Study WHY DANONE IS USING THE ESR

Danone (marketed in the United States as Dannon) is a multinational dairy company that is active in dozens of countries, with products ranging from fruit yogurt to baby formula. Danone products are inherently dependent on ecosystems for the goods and services they provide, including: healthy pastures for dairy cattle pollinator habitat for better strawberry production clean freshwater for milk processing operations. Ecosystem change driven by climate change and pollution presents risks to Danone’s productivity. At the same time, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on significant opportunities provided by more effective ecosystem management, such as improved nutritional quality of its products and lower opera-tional costs. Aiming to capture these opportunities and improve the sustainability of its products ’ supply chains, Danone-Brazil investigated how it could leverage the systematic management of ecosystem services to improve corporate performance. GETTING STARTED In partnership with the Ipê Institute, a Brazilian nongovernmental organization, Danone implemented the Corporate Ecosystem Services Review (ESR) on several supply chain components of one of its most popular food products. Ipê’s partnership contributed to the Danone ESR team’s ability to dedicate time to the ESR, even amid competing demands. Ipê also brought technical expertise and an external perspective that stimulated other corporate divisions to contribute to the project. To get the most value out of the ESR, Danone also joined a Brazilian business and ecosystems group called Parceria Empresarial pelos Serviços Ecosistêmicos (PESE). PESE is a partnership among companies and civil society to demonstrate the benefits of ecosystem services in Brazil. The eight companies participating in PESE executed ESRs at the same time. Periodic PESE meetings allowed the companies to discuss experiences and learn from each other