Danone has abandoned its brief foray into the cosmetics business less than two years after it released a skin-enhancing yoghurt, acknowledging that consumers were no longer prepared to spend money on non-essential products.

Danone said it would withdraw the yoghurt, named “Essensis”, from France in March because sales were suffering due to the global economic crisis, and it would focus on its core brands rather than experiment with new products. “Our focus will be on our blockbuster products,” Danone said.