In peeking at Alton Brown’s Dannon deal, I noticed that Stonyfield, my favorite yogurt company, has formed a partnership with DANONE (French parent of Dannon). DANONE acquired 40% of Stonyfield in October 2001 and has the option to acquire a majority holding in 2004. Stonyfield management didn’t change, but the deal may have interesting consequences in the future. American consumers continue to seek out healthier foods and become more aware of what is truly bad for them, so I hope Stonyfield’s ingredients don’t change over time to match what some big exec believes will attract more customers. Also, I assume they wouldn’t want to cut into Dannon yogurt’s profits, so the Stonyfield niche may be safe.