Danone has planned to enter Chinese weight-reducing market for three years, even before it bought the share of Huiyuan Juicy. Weight Watchers has already built the data pool of Chinese dishes and food. According to the market research, the market scale of Chinese weight-reducing products is about 1 billion Yuan (USD 142.8 million).

On September 10, Matthew Gene Mouw, as the Vice President of Huiyuan Strategic Development, attended Huiyuan Interim Results Announcement. However, after one day, he became the CEO of Weight Watchers Danone (China) Weight Loss Consultation Co., Ltd. (WWDC) and appeared in Shanghai. WWDC is the latest investment of Danone in China: neither dairy nor beverage, but the weight-reducing industry.

In this February, Weight Watchers International and Groupe Danone signed a joint venture contract, confirming the development of weight management business in China, with Weight Watchers’ method of weight loss as its core. This joint venture company owns market capital of 400 million USD, of which Weight Watchers takes 51% of the share and Danone holds 49%. After a half year’s preparation, on September 11, WWDC’s first weight-reducing center opened in Shanghai Hong Yi International Plaza. According to the plan, WWDC will establish another three weight-reducing centers in Shanghai. Then it plans to enter all the major cities in China and some important capital cities in this year. It also plans to introduce the Weight Watchers’ business of publishing, food, weight-reducing device and so on into China in the future. Now it is positively seeking partner for those business.

Different from the cooperation with Bright Dairy and Wahaha, this time Danone will join in the management of WWDC personally. It has sent two persons. One of them is Matthew Gene Mouw and the other one is Chen Baojin, former General Manager of Shanghai Aquarius Co. Ltd (SAC). Chen will take the position of general manager of WWDC. It is known that Danone will lay emphasis on the marketing and operation in the joint venture company while WWDC will devote itself mainly to weight-reducing technology.

According to Matthew Gene Mouw, Danone has planned to enter Chinese weight-reducing market for three years. The market research shows that the scale of Chinese weight-reducing market is about 1 billion Yuan (USD 142.8 million), including weight-reducing tea and medicine. Weight Watcher’s weight-reducing plan can substitute those products. David P. Kirchhoff, International President of Weight Watchers pointed out that Chinese weight management market had not matured and Weight Watchers wished to develop together with the market.

Weight Watchers is a service provider of weight management with 45 years’ history and business in 25 countries. Its main business is to help people learn scientific diet and healthy living mode. Formerly it adopted the way of direct operation and affiliation. The cooperation with Danone is its first joint venture enterprise.

After Danone deprived itself of biscuit business and acquired Dumex parent company, its strategic focus is laid on the fields of milk powder for babies and the like. Vincent, former Vice President and Chief Management Officer of Groupe Danone and current President Assistant didn’t make reply for the legal dispute of Danone in China, but he denied that Danone was just a capital investor in China. He said that SAC, WWDC, Dumex and Evian were the brands that Danone managed and operated personally. He also expressed that Danone would return to Chinese dairy market, sooner or later.