Cairo: Danone Egypt has announced the launch of Gawda project, cooling milk collection trucks equipped with innovative cooling systems the first of its kind in Egypt, under Danone Egypt’s ‘Alban Baladna’ framework to preserve the collected milk’s quality and nutritional value.

Danone Egypt has developed innovative technology to upgrade its cooling milk collection trucks in Beni Suef and Gharbia governorates, ensuring milk is kept at a cool temperature to preserve its quality and nutritional value. This project addresses the challenge of milk being exposed to high temperatures, which leads to increased bacterial count and contamination. Gawda project is part of the company's commitment to delivering high-quality, healthy food products to consumers by ensuring the highest standards of safety and health are met throughout every stage of the value chain.

The announcement was made during a visit by a delegation of media representatives to Danone Egypt’s factory in Obour City. The event was attended by Hesham Radwan, General Manager of Danone Egypt, and Ahmed Talaat, Corporate Affairs, Legal & Regulatory Director at Danone Egypt.

"Our company places the utmost importance on product quality and safety, with the primary goal of delivering healthy, nutritious products to consumers, in alignment with our mission “Bringing health through food to as many people as possible.” We started this journey by collaborating closely with smallholder dairy producers and farmers to ensure the highest standards in milk production, establishing milk collection centers to source fresh, quality milk while securing sustainable income for the farmers. Today, as part of the Gawda project, we have pioneered cutting-edge technology, being implemented for the first time in Egypt, to ensure the safe and sustainable transportation of milk to our production facilities, resulting in the best dairy products." remarked Hesham Radwan, General Manager of Danone Egypt.

Ahmed Talaat, Corporate Affairs, Legal & Regulatory Director at Danone Egypt, highlighted that this initiative is integral to Danone's sustainable development strategy, Danone Impact Journey.  The aim is to develop innovative technology that strengthens the company's leadership in providing solutions to preserve the nutritional value of milk and reduce contamination risks by 90%. This initiative also significantly contributes to decreasing food waste, aligning with Danone Egypt’s strategy under the "Zero Food Waste" initiative.

During the tour, the journalists' delegation was also introduced to the manufacturing capabilities of Danone Egypt’s Obour City factory, which spans 40,000 square meters, bringing the company’s total investments in Egypt to 2 billion EGP. The factory operates eight production lines with an annual capacity of 120,000 tons of dairy and yogurt products to meet the demands of the local market and for export to Libya, Mauritius, and Kenya. The company successfully doubled the value of its exports by 112% in 2023 and aims to maintain this progress throughout the current year.

About Danone Egypt

Danone Egypt is a subsidiary of Danone company with headquarters in Cairo operating since 2006 with a leading position on essential dairy category (Danone Yogurt, Danette, Activia, Danone Max, Danone Greek, HiPro and Dango). Danone Egypt’s 1,500 employees are driven by the ambition to nourish a healthier and happier Egypt. Danone is proud to make a positive contribution to Egypt with great tasting, healthier and top-quality products for children and families which support healthy lifestyles for all Egyptians. Danone Egypt has a plant in Obour and a world class dairy farm in Nubariya, the third largest in Egypt. 

Danone Egypt is the first company in Egypt to achieve the B Corp TM Certification. It recognizes the company’s ambition to act beyond financial profit and put purpose at the heart of its business strategy in addition to meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance. In 2022, Danone Egypt has been awarded as the leading Company Providing Healthy Food Solutions by BT100. Danone Egypt aspires to make a positive contribution to the Egyptian community with services and access to health-related products.