La Laiterie du Berger achieved positive EBITDA for one month

For the first time since danone.communities invested in the project in 2008, La Laiterie du Berger achieved a positive EBITDA for one month, in August 2011. This huge achievement on 1 month resulted from 2 main factors. First, ramadan in 2011 was from 1^st to 30^th August and yogurt consumption in Senegal peaks during Ramadan. The consumption is at its highest at the end of Ramadan, the “korite”, when families buy yogurt in buckets of 5 kilos. August 2011 was therefore THE time of year to push yogurt sales. Second, Dolima - La Laiterie du Berger’s yogurt brand - did a huge sales and marketing push in store and on TV, delivering massive sales uplifts in August, allowing LDB to break even.

The Dolima TV ad showed the milk freshly collected, the Fulani cows and a mouth-watering demo of the new, thicker recipe. Many adults within Dolima’s core target audience were convinced and tried our yogurt, discovering how tasty it is. Those who were not convinced by the ad were cornered in store with product sampling and converted many more consumers. The ad also featured Sanekh, a well-known Senegalese stand-up comedian, who made the whole country laugh to its jokes and funny faces featuring Dolima yogurt. Children absolutely love him and immediately adopted Dolima as their favourite yogurt brand.

This strong performance of just one month in August 2011 is a very encouraging sign for the future of La Laiterie du Berger and 2012 should bring more positive news like this one. Keep your eyes peeled!

Dakar, 13^th February 2012

Adrien Varrod

Share: