Information continues to emerge that consolidates the Catalan capital as a reference for large multinationals to locate their technological development centers in Southern Europe. Companies from all sectors are opting to open digitalization hubs in Barcelona thanks to the business and entrepreneurial fabric that has been configured in the city, the existence of technological talent, and its attractiveness for attracting international professionals.
Danone has just joined this trend by deciding to inaugurate its first IT & Data hub in Spain in Barcelona, a center that will have an initial team of 35 professionals of different nationalities specialized in technology and data analysis. Its mission will be to drive the group's digital transformation in the Iberian Peninsula, although its developments are also expected to be exported to other international subsidiaries of the French food giant.
It is estimated that Danone's new innovation and digitalization center will be fully operational by the end of this year, so the talent selection process, which will also draw on professionals from the company itself from abroad, is already in an advanced stage. Specifically, 9 danoners from other countries have already joined the new team, according to Nicolas Cosqueric, Technology Director of Danone Iberia, to The New Barcelona Post. "The hub will generate growth opportunities for the company's internal talent, as well as the achievement of new professional careers," the group points out.
"We want that by 2025, technology and data become Danone's great strategic differentiators, driven by an agile IT & Data organization and, for this reason, we have accelerated the consolidation of this hub in Barcelona where digital projects that will scale globally will be coordinated," explains Cosqueric.
According to the executive, Danone's IT team in Spain currently consists of about 35 people, but they are independent professionals from the creation of this hub, which will be located at the group's corporate headquarters on Buenos Aires street. The center becomes the fifth technological hub that the company has opened in the last year, joining those that have been launched in Mexico, Malaysia, France, and Poland and that serve, respectively, the subsidiaries of the American, Asian, and European markets. There are also satellite or support IT centers located in Argentina, Russia, Indonesia, and China.
"The opening of this IT & Data Hub in Barcelona seeks to strengthen governance and performance through the union of synergies between global and local roles, which helps consolidate market strategies, reinforcing Danone's commitment to the Iberia region," adds the group. The yogurt leader wants to promote "a collaborative work model" that contributes to the acquisition and retention of talent and helps it accelerate its growth and the detection of new business opportunities.
"Innovation has been one of Danone's differentiating elements since its inception. We have been innovating in all areas for years, but now, we need to accelerate the digitalization of our business. We are launching a space that will house people of different nationalities, where they will be able to grow, develop professionally, and be in charge of digital projects that will lead the company's strategies in the near future," argues Cosqueric.
"We are launching a space that will house people of different nationalities, where they will be able to grow, develop professionally, and be in charge of digital projects that will lead the company's strategies in the near future"The hubBarcelona will act as the engine for the digitalization of the three business areas with which Danone operates in the Iberia region: dairy and plant-based products (with brands such as Danone, Activia, Actimel, Alpro, and Danonino); mineral waters (Font Vella and Lanjarón) and specialized nutrition for adults and babies (Nutricia and Almirón). In total, in Spain, Danone employs some 2,000 workers and has yogurt factories in Parets del Vallès (Barcelona), Aldaya (Valencia), and Tres Cantos (Madrid) and springs in Sant Hilari Sacalm (Girona), Sigüenza (Guadalajara), and Lanjarón (Granada).
Although it is now a French company with a turnover of more than 23.6 billion euros and operates in 120 countries, Danone was born in Barcelona in 1919, so the city has always been very important for the company. In fact, the subsidiary based in the Catalan capital had historically operated with broad autonomy, since until 2013 about half of its capital remained in the hands of the Carasso families ---descendants of the founder---, Fuster and Portabella.
The headquarters on Buenos Aires street has historically been one of the great breeding grounds for executives for the French group and, from Barcelona, multiple products that have achieved global success have also been developed at the Isaac and Daniel Carasso R&D center, located on Corsica street in Barcelona, one of the main scientific centers that the multinational has in the world.
Continuous trickle of new implementations
With the opening of this center, Danone joins other large food companies that have also opted to locate their technology hubs in the Barcelona area, such as Nestlé and Pepsico, although the city also hosts reference centers for companies from all sectors such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bayer, Dedalus, ABB, Ocado, Teladoc Health, Ypsomed, Schneider Electric, MIR Robots, Santévet, Bitpanda, Costa Cruises, Festo, The Knot Worldwide and Essity, among many other recent examples.