Combatting food waste is both a pressing need and a serious challenge for consumer packaged food companies. Even if they were to find ways to minimize waste, do consumers really want to eat food that has been discarded by some other actors, for some reason?

In line with its ethical character, as a certified B Corp (which requires firms to meet stringent accountability, transparency, and sustainability standards), Danone North America is willing to take that risk. With its Two Good Good Save product line, it actively promotes and highlights how the packaged food items under this brand label make use of products that other producers have discarded. For example, its pumpkin-flavored yogurt relies on seasonally discarded, real pumpkins, approximately 1.3 billion pounds of which get thrown away every autumn. To rescue produce that otherwise would be tossed, Two Good Good Save partners with organizations such as Full Harvest. It also relies on the farmers themselves, such as those that grow Meyer lemons and normally would be unable to sell fruits with irregular shapes or minor blemishes on the rinds. Notably, an estimated one-third of all food waste occurs at the farm level.

In addition, food waste and hunger are inextricably linked, so beyond gathering food that otherwise would be wasted, Two Good Good Save commits to donating to nonprofit organizations dedicated to combatting hunger. For every sold product, it donates a meal to organizations like City Harvest NYC. Recent estimates indicate it has provided the equivalent of nearly 42 million meals to hungry people through this initiative.

Such numbers suggest its popularity, which did not seem assured at the outset. As the first brand to use only rescued produce, Two Good Good Sense represents a product innovation. But its innovativeness also spans beyond the ingredients used. The Greek-style yogurt promises a high protein, low sugar, and low calorie option. The unique slow-straining process it uses to make the yogurt is different enough that the company sought patent protection.

In turn, since being launched in 2019, Two Good Good Sense has established itself as a $200 million brand. Displaying 40 percent growth in 2021, it became the second-most impactful contributor to wider growth in the yogurt market. According to one of the company’s vice presidents, “This growth is driven by enabling consumers to vote with their dollars for brands that make purpose a core part of their proposition,” and to help them make such choices, the company actively talks “about using verified rescued fruit on our packaging and in our communications to educate consumers. To me, this is an example of purpose at the center of the business model.”

Discussion Questions:

1. What strategy does Danone North America need to adopt to convince consumers to be not just willing but excited to each rescued produce in their yogurt?
2. How should Danone North America price this new product line?
3. Can and should other brands add more discarded food to their products?

Source: MeiMei Fox, “How Danone North America Is Combatting the Global Food Catastrophe,” Forbes, May 2, 2022; Two Good, “Watch the Good Add Up,” https://www.twogoodyogurt.com/one-cup-less-hunger/; B Lab, “Make Business a Force for Good,” https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/; “Two Good Yogurt Addresses Food Waste by Launching New Product Line Utilizing Verified Rescued Produce in Partnership with Full Harvest,” December 9, 2020, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/two-good-yogurt-addresses-food-waste-by-launching-new-product-line-utilizing-verified-rescued-produce-in-partnership-with-full-harvest-301188966.html;