In 1919, Danone became the first commercial yogurt brand and was sold exclusively in pharmacies as a medicine for children.

In the early 1900s, Isaac Carasso observed that many children in Barcelona suffered from severe intestinal infections and poor gut health. He turned to the work of Elie Metchnikoff, a Nobel Prize winner from the Pasteur Institute, who theorized that lactic acid bacteria could prolong life by improving digestion. Carasso obtained specific bacterial strains, including Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, from the Pasteur Institute to begin his production.The brand name Danone was derived from 'Danon,' the Catalan nickname for his son Daniel. Because the general public was unfamiliar with yogurt as a food item, Carasso marketed it as a health treatment for 'intestinal flora' issues. Each portion was sold in small porcelain pots and distributed through pharmacies across Spain under medical recommendation.Metchnikoff’s 1907 book, 'The Prolongation of Life,' had already popularized the idea that Bulgarian peasants lived longer due to fermented milk consumption. Carasso capitalized on this scientific momentum to establish the world's first industrial yogurt production facility. It was not until the 1920s and 1930s that Danone expanded into France and eventually transitioned from a pharmaceutical product to a mainstream grocery staple.