Food companies launch partnership to cut dairy industry’s CO2 emissions

Food companies Ajinomoto and Danone unveiled on Thursday a partnership to reduce the dairy industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“With partners like Ajinomoto Co., we are expanding our toolkit of solutions that we are bringing to our dairy farmers that have a dual effect – on the one hand reducing on farm GHG emissions whilst on the other, supporting farmers to improve their margin, and as a result, boost their resilience,” said Danone’s chief procurement officer Jean-Yves Krummenacher.

Ajinomoto is a Japanese multi-national company selling products ranging from frozen foods to animal nutrition. Danone, a French multi-national, sells a range of dairy and non-dairy foods such as Danone and Oikos yogurts, and International Delight coffee creamer.

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The partnership between Ajinomoto and Danone to cut greenhouse gas emissions also comes after six of the world’s largest dairy companies – including Danone – last year unveiled an alliance to cut methane emissions at the United Nations COP28 summit.

Danone and Ajinomoto said they would join up to use an Ajinomoto product called AjiPro®-L.

This is used for a cow’s digestive system and figures cited by the companies said it decreases nitrous oxide emissions from manure by approximately 25 per cent and – if combined with a methane reduction additive – can amplify the effect of the methane reduction additive by approximately 30 per cent.

—Reporting for Reuters by Sudip Kar-Gupta. Additional reporting, editing by Geralyn Wichers.