Danone CEO Americas Shane Grant is joining Colgate-Palmolive, ending a stint of more than five years at the food, beverage and nutrition major.
Grant leaves Danone on June 13, 2025, with group deputy CEO Véronique Penchienati-Bosetta absorbing his duties.
In addition to being CEO Americas, Grant combined the roles of group deputy CEO and executive vice-president, Dairy, Plant-Based and Global Sales. At Colgate-Palmolive, he will serve as chief operating officer Americas, overseeing North America and LATAM.
Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO at Danone, commented: “On behalf of us all, I’d like to thank Shane for his strong contribution since joining the company in 2020.
“His leadership has been key in advancing Danone’s business – from North America to Latin America, from commercial teams to categories – leaving a strong base on which we will further build. We all wish Shane the very best in his future endeavors.”
Exit leaves leadership vacuum in key markets
Grant’s exit will – at least temporarily – leave Danone’s second largest sales zone without a dedicated CEO.
North America contributed €6.6bn in sales in FY2024, second only to Europe (€9.57bn). Combined, North America and LATAM (€3.0bn) generated €9.6bn in sales for the group, overtaking zone Europe.
North America also delivered the highest sales numbers in Essential Dairy and Plant-based (EDP), Danone’s largest category, bringing in €5.9bn and a 5.4% like-for-like growth in FY2024 (Europe came second at €4.3bn / +0.9% LFL sales growth).
Grant’s legacy: From Oikos rebrand to medical nutrition deals
Grant oversaw Danone’s Americas business at a crucial juncture for the company.
He was brought onboard to lead the re-organized North America dairy and plant-based division following Danone’s acquisition of WhiteWave Foods, which brought brands such as Alpro, Silk, So Delicious and International Delight under Danone’s ownership and nearly doubled its business in the region.
Over time, Grant’s role grew to include the entire Americas region in addition to responsibilities as group deputy CEO.
Targeting growth in plant-based
Back in 2021 when Grant was appointed, Danone was aiming to accelerate plant-based product sales globally from €2bn to €5bn in 2025. It’s unclear how the company is progressing on this target as it reports combined sales in dairy and plant-based.
In FY2024, EDP group sales amounted to around €13.47bn (including around €9.5bn from North America and LATAM, AMEA and CIS). North America delivered +5.4% LFL sales growth in EDP and +5.2% across the division, including -3.0% LFL sales decrease in specialized nutrition and +10.9% growth in waters.
Grant was at the helm when Danone rebranded Oikos in a bid to reinvigorate the Greek yogurt category.
“The category itself, pre-pandemic, has been relatively flat overall for a number of years,” Grant told the press at the time. “It did see some acceleration during the pandemic, sort of mid-single digit growth rates, but I think it’s fair to say that it did not accelerate to the degree that some of our other segments did.
“Greek, while it’s been fairly consistent, has not really been one of the real growth engines in yogurt, at least not in the last few years, and it hasn’t made it, from what we saw, with enough excitement from Millennial consumers.”
Oikos, through its low-sugar and high-protein lines – including a recently-introduced range of protein shakes – has been a major sales driver for EDP in North America for Danone.
Grant also spearheaded expansion of Danone’s North America manufacturing capabilities in coffee, announcing a $65m investment to create a new RTD coffee and creamer factory in Jacksonville, Florida. Danone is among the leading players in the growing at-home coffee and creamers market in North America and relieving supply constraints has been a focus for both the French multi-national and its main competitor, Nestlé.
See also: Coffee creamers struggle for Danone in Q1 2025
Grant also led the division when it set out to reformulate most of its plant-based drinks in a bid to improve their nutritional value. Plant-based dairy alternatives’ nutritional value has been a key concern for both consumers and regulators alike, along with taste and functional properties like foaming.
Danone's best sellers
In FY2024, yogurt was the largest category in North America for Danone, followed by coffee creations and plant-based products.
See also: How science-backed claims and GLP-1 propelled Danone's FY2024 results
Most recently, he announced the acquisition of medical nutrition company Kate Farms, stating the deal would ‘enhance [Danone’s] ability to provide better solutions for people with wide-ranging health needs’. Kate Farms was the third medical nutrition firm Danone acquired in the last five years, following the purchases of Real Food Blends and Functional Formularies. The whole food formula market in which the company operates is though to be a high-growth category already worth $1bn.
Prior to joining Danone, Grant spent almost 20 years with The Coca-Cola Company, where he held various leadership roles in category leadership, commercial, and general management, including senior vice-president for Glacéau and president, Coca-Cola Canada; as well as president of the still beverages business unit for Coca-Cola North America.
He also worked for Unilever in Australia and New Zealand in various sales, supply chain and brand management positions.