World famous football star Zinedine Zidane yesterday inaugurated the first plant of the Tk 25 crore joint venture, Grameen Danone Foods Limited, at Pan Pacific Sonargaon through a function to promote the product, Shoktidoi.

Groupe Danone, a Paris-based international food products company which is especially famous for its yoghurt, shares with the Grameen group -- comprising Grameen Byabosa Bikash, Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Shakti and Grameen Telecom -- in investing initially Tk-7.5 crore in the plant.

Grameen and Danone have plan to set up 50 additional factories across the country in next 10 years if the first factory set up on 700 square metres of land at Banani Betgari in northern district Bogra is successful.

As the function began, children from rural areas welcomed Zidane with a song when he reached Sonargaon Ball Room.

Zidane inaugurated Grameen Danone Foods Limited's first factory in Bogra by putting his sign on the founding stone plaque that will be installed at the Bogra factory.

The factory will produce 3,000kg yoghurt in the first year, increasing to 10,000kg in the third year and beyond. Shoktidoi will contain protein, vitamins, iron, calcium and zinc ingredients to fulfil nutritional requirements of children.

The factory will use purified water and harvested rainwater in the production process. It will mainly use natural gas with a special effort to use biogas and solar power to minimise the use of natural gas. The yoghurt will be sold in special biodegradable cups.

"This is a unique opportunity to create a business with a strong social aspect, a company whose ambition is not to maximise profits but rather to act in the interests of the population without making losses," Prof Muhammad Yunus, president of the Grameen Group, told the function.

Terming the project a social business enterprise, Yunus said the aim of the company is to help people, without incurring financial loss. "The main objective will not be profit maximisation rather to help eradicate poverty by creating opportunities for the poor."

With the mission to reduce poverty by a unique proximity business model that will provide daily healthy nutrition to the poor, the project has the objectives to offer a product with high nutritional value, create jobs and protect environment.

"Made of cow's milk, date molasses and sugar, Shoktidoi is a natural source of calcium and protein which are essential for healthy growth and bones," Yunus said, adding that a pot of 80gm Shoktidoi wil provide 30 per cent of a child's daily requirement of vitamin A, iron, zinc and iodine.

Each pot of 80g Shoktidoi will be sold at Tk 5 among poor families living in 25-kiloemtre radius off the factory.

"We have no plan to export the yoghurt or sell it to other parts of the country," said the Grameen chief while replying to a media query, adding that the yoghurt will remain fresh for three days.

Several hundred new jobs will be created in the region's livestock farming, distribution and marketing sectors.

To avoid coming into competition with other milk purchasers, Grameen Danone will develop a series of microfarms. Grameen Bank will offer micro-credit to the potential farmers. Then they will purchase one or more cows and sell the milk they produce to Grameen Danone.

In return the company will guarantee them a fixed price throughout the year, and will send its veterinary expert to help them improve yield and quality.

Replying to a query, Prof Yunus said, "The investors will not take away the profit. The profits will be put for innovation and creation of new opportunities in a process to gradually develop the model."

The company also has a plan to expand the business concept elsewhere in the world, particularly in Africa. “It's a dream, many people think it's a dream that can't be materialised,” said the Nobel laureate about his unique business concept. “We believe, we have made this possible not only for Bangladesh but also for the world.”

While addressing the function, Franck Riboud, CEO of Groupe Danone said, "I am utterly convinced that our future depends on our ability to explore and invent new businesses and new types of enterprise. It is a great opportunity to make progress in that direction and take another huge step towards fulfilling our mission: to bring health through food to as many people as possible."

Emmanuel Faber, Executive Vice President of Groupe Danone's Asia Pacific unit, said, "With this initiative, social impact on local community takes precedence over the need to maximise profits and share them with local communities."

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (gain) Executive Director Marc Van Ameringen also spoke on the occasion.

Yunus and Frank decided to explore the possibility of establishing a partnership in Bangladesh when they met in Paris at the end of October 2005. After an initial workshop in Dhaka the next month, they signed a memorandum of understanding on March 16 this year to create Grameen Danone Foods Ltd.

In mid-July, Grameen Danone acquired a plot of land in Bogra to build its first plant that now goes for its first yoghurt production.