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Danone has announced that its net sales have grown by 10.5% on a like-for-like (LFL) basis during the first quarter, indicating a "strong start to the year". The French dairy giant posted Q1 net sales of €6.96 billion, up from €6.24 billion in the same period last year. Price and volume/mix contributed 10.3% and 0.2%, respectively. Europe and North America recorded LFL sales growth of 6.2% and 11.8%, respectively. In Europe, the growth in sales was led by brands such as Actimel, Alpro, Evian and Aptamil, which performed well in France, Poland and the UK. Danone said that the European countries have also made progress in transforming its Essential Dairy and Plant-based (EDP) portfolio. In North America, Danone reported that the company sustained "strong and balanced growth momentum," primarily driven by its yogurt and coffee creamers brands, including Oikos, Activia, International Delight and Stok. In addition, Danone's plant-based products delivered "moderate growth". China, North Asia & Oceania saw the highest increase (16%), with double-digit growth recorded in its EDP, Specialized Nutrition and Waters categories. Latin America sales grew by 12.6%, led by Mexico and Brazil, while the rest of the world registered sales growth of 11.8%. In Q1, the company’s EDP category posted LFL sales growth of +9.3%. Meanwhile, Danone’s Specialized Nutrition and Waters businesses saw sales grow 12.0% on an LFL basis. Danone's CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique said: “This first quarter showed a strong start to year 2023...This performance was driven by all our categories and geographies and notably the North America and CNAO zones, but also supported by favourable phasing." He continued: "This quarter again, we consistently delivered against the pillars of our 'Renew Danone' strategy, further improving the quality of our execution, and investing behind our winning brands and platforms, while continuing to streamline and improve our portfolio. While this is encouraging progress, there is still much to be done. We remain fully focused on delivering on our 'Renew Danone' agenda, setting a solid base for long-term sustainable value creation.”