Third-quarter results released this week by Danone show that infant nutrition continues to underpin the company’s performance. While Danone’s like-for-like third-quarter sales increased 5% to €6.5bn, the growth in volume and pricing is coming from its specialised nutrition division.

Danone’s specialised nutrition division, which is predominantly related to the sale of infant nutrition products such as its Aptamil brand, reported like-for-like sales growth for the third quarter of 18% to €1.8bn. This growth was split evenly between a 9% increase in pricing and a 9% increase in sales volumes.

China remains the growth engine for this division, accounting for over 50% of growth in infant formula sales. In contrast, Danone’s consumer dairy business saw sales fall during the third quarter. In North America, consumer dairy sales were back by more than 2% to less than €1.3bn as volumes continue to weaken.

In European and international markets, consumer dairy sales fell 2% to €2bn, as sales volumes plunged more than 7%. to offset a 5% increase in product pricing.