Danone’s new facility kicks off with Zidane
Posted by meb at May 21st, 2008
Danone opened its new Yeniköy milk production facility yesterday in Tekirdağ’s Lüleburgaz district with the attendance of its promotional representative, France’s legendary soccer player Zinedine Zidane.
Danone Group CEO Frank Riboud said in his speech at the opening ceremony that Turkey is a very significant market for the company. “We are a French company, but we are Turkish in Turkey. We accept ourselves as a part of the country that we are operating in,” he noted, adding that Danone is expanding rapidly in this country. Their target is not limited to growing continuously worldwide but to contributing to society with meaningful projects, said Riboud.
Recalling that the first time Danone worked with Zidane was for a mineral water commercial 15 years ago, Riboud praised their partnership since then. “He wanted to share what life has given to him with children, and I wanted him to be an envoy of Danone programs all around the world. We were together visiting Indonesia, Egypt and Bangladesh before coming to Turkey, and we will be heading to Poland in a few weeks,” Riboud said of Zidane.
Zidane also took the stage, telling the audience how he came to be involved with Danone. “It started with a coincidence, but now we are acting together. I am proud of being a part of Danone in the world,” he said.
Yeniköy adopts EU standards
Danone Turkey General Manager Serpil Timuray said the Yeniköy facilities will be operated in full compliance with EU standards even though the facilities are established in a small village. He noted that opening such high-quality production centers will help bring villages out of deprivation and poverty.
The Yeniköy facilities will lower bacteria in milk to the EU standard of 100,000 per cubic centimeter from its current levels of 325,000 bacteria/cubic centimeter, Timuray noted.
Turkey’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Mehdi Eker was also present at the opening ceremony. He recalled in his address that the subsidies and incentives his government had provided for animal husbandry had increased tenfold in six years, going from YTL 83 million in 2002 to over YTL 800 million.
After the end of the ceremony Zidane played a short soccer match with village residents. The match ended 1-0, with the only goal scored by Zidane.
source: Today’s Zaman
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