Saw the Huel/Danone announcement and had a nagging feeling Danone had a shady history, I couldn’t remember the specifics so I asked AI to dig into it and provide a balanced response for both good and bad. Here’s what it came back with:
Huel is being acquired for around €1 billion. This is a brand that built itself on 100% plant-based products, ethically certified suppliers, cocoa sourced through Tony’s Open Chain (living wages, zero deforestation), 1.5°C-aligned carbon targets, a B Corp score of 92.1, and a net-zero factory in Milton Keynes. Their founder said he wanted to build a business that “did the right thing for the planet.” A lot of us bought in on that basis.
Danone, meanwhile, has been identified as one of the world’s top 10 plastic polluters and one of the lowest-performing public companies on human rights (both via the Good Shopping Guide). They were fined for running a dairy cartel in Spain to suppress prices paid to farmers. Last year their Indonesian water brand Aqua was caught advertising mountain spring water that actually came from drilled groundwater wells. They scored a D on regenerative agriculture and have been criticised by researchers for overstating their climate progress. They do hold B Corp certification — but held up against the actual record, it looks more like a PR shield than a reflection of how they operate.
To be fair, Danone aren’t Nestlé. They do invest in sustainability and score well on some independent benchmarks. But there’s a gap between the image and the reality.
Here’s what backs each claim:
Top 10 plastic polluters / lowest-performing on human rights — The Good Shopping Guide ( Ethical Yoghurt - The Good Shopping Guide )
Dairy cartel fine in Spain — Wikipedia, sourced from the Spanish regulator Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) fining Danone €929,644 in 2019
Aqua groundwater scandal (Indonesia) — Wikipedia, sourced from the October 2025 inspection by West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi at Aqua’s facility in Subang Regency
D grade on regenerative agriculture — As You Sow’s 2025 “From the Ground Up” report, scoring 14/45
Overstating climate progress — Wikipedia, citing environmental researchers criticising reliance on greenhouse gas removal over actual emissions cuts
B Corp certification — B Lab / bcorporation.net (Danone achieved full global certification in 2025)
Forced labour benchmark (19/100) — KnowTheChain 2026 food and beverage benchmark
Baby formula price fixing (China) — 2013, reported widely — six companies fined a total of $110 million
Baby milk substitute marketing (DanoNO campaign) — Baby Milk Action / IBFAN monitoring (babymilkaction.org)
The Good Shopping Guide claims are the hardest to independently verify since they sit behind their own methodology. Everything else has a clear paper trail according to AI.
I think it’s worth knowing (assuming everything above is 100% accurate from AI) as a lot of us prefer to stay on the side of ethical even if I am a hypocrite and buy from Amazon.. Worth the heads-up to keep an eye on quality and their direction etc. What are your thoughts?
