Danone food group increased its turnover last quarter thanks to hamster rage due to the corona virus. The company does foresee a lot of uncertainty in the future because of the pandemic and therefore withdraws its financial prospects for this year. The company is not yet able to properly estimate what eating habits people, who are at home because of lockdowns, will adopt. Problems in the supply of products are also possible.
Last quarter Danone saw demand for water bottles suddenly drop sharply, while other products were being hammered. In the first quarter, the effect of hoarding in Europe and the United States outweighed less demand in China. Danone sales increased on a comparable basis by 3.7 percent to 6.2 billion euros.
For the second quarter, Danone expects an even stronger impact from the corona virus and the measures to control the outbreak. The effect of hoarding is likely to decrease, while the negative economic impact of the corona crisis will increase. Consumers will feel this in their incomes, which can change shopping behavior.
Danone sees at all that people do their shopping differently because of the corona crisis. The question is becoming much more erratic. In any case, the group will sell larger packaging for certain products and focus on foods that can be prepared at home.