Danone renamed Activia in Russia to Aktibio

Danone has renamed its products manufactured under the Activia brand into Aktibio in Russia. About it informs manufacturer’s press office.

“Danone in Russia has decided to localize the international brand Activia under the new name AktiBio in the Russian market. The changes will only affect the brand name and packaging design.

The press service emphasized that the products under the new brand will be produced according to the same quality and safety standards, with the same taste characteristics and at the same enterprises. As explained in Danone, the localization of the name is needed to resume investment in the Russian company.

At the beginning of March 2022, against the backdrop of the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, Danone announced the suspension of investment projects in the Russian Federation. Then the company noted that the decision will not affect the production and distribution of food products. On March 23, Danone announced that it would continue to produce dairy products and baby food in Russia, but would cease all other ties with the country.

In October 2022, the company announced about plans to abandon business in Russia. Control of the dairy and plant products division will be transferred to a new owner. The company explained that they believe this solution is the best option to ensure long-term local business continuity for employees, consumers and partners. At the beginning of February 2023, Kommersant informedthat Danone is ready to transfer control over a part of Russian assets to potential investors, subject to the inclusion of a buyback option in the transaction.

In April, Izvestia wrotethat after the sale of business in Russia, Danone intends to abandon part of its global brands in Russia, including Activia. Danone Russia then confirmed that they were exploring various “opportunities on how to make international brands more relevant to the local market.”