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Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France.[1] The company's former name was Besnier S.A.[1]
André Besnier started a small cheesemaking company in 1933 and launched its Président brand of Camembert in 1968. In 1990, it acquired Group Bridel (2,300 employees, 10 factories, fourth-largest French dairy group) with a presence in 60 countries. In 1992, it acquired United States cheese company Sorrento. In 1999, la société Besnier became le groupe Lactalis owned by Belgian holding company BSA International SA. In 2006, they bought Italian group Galbani, and in 2008, bought Swiss cheesemaker Baer. They bought Italian group Parmalat in a 2011 2.5B € takeover after its bankruptcy and have since sought to delist it. In 2013, the Sorrento and Precious brands in the US were renamed Galbani, and the Sorrento Lactalis division was renamed Lactalis American Group.
In 2007, the French Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, which administers AOC (L'appellation d'origine contrôlée) designations for French food products, refused to permit Lactalis and the dairy cooperative, Isigny-Sainte-Mère, to sell pasteurized Camembert as "true Camembert". As of 2007, these two companies represented between 80 and 90% of Normandy Camembert sales.[4] In 2018, the INAO announced it would relax restrictions and create a new designation to include pasteurized Camembert in 2021.[5]
Lactilis acquired the southern Swedish dairy company, Skånemejerier, in February 2012.
In May 2015, Lactalis acquired an 80% stake in Turkish dairy Ak Gida, a subsidiary of Yildiz Holding.[6][7][8][9]
In July 2017 it was announced that Groupe Danone had agreed to sell its Stonyfield Farm subsidiary to Lactalis for $875 Million[10] to avoid anti-trust claims and to clear the way for Danone's acquisition of U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave Foods.[11]
In December 2017, Lactalis announced the acquisition of dairy company Itambé.[12]
In January 2018, Lactalis announced it had agreed to purchase the skyr producer Siggi's Dairy, which will continue to be run independently.[13]
In October 2018, Lactalis announced the acquisition of Nestlé Malaysia's chilled dairy business unit for approximately $40million.[14]
Lactalis's Indian subsidiary Tirumala Milk Products said that it would acquire Prabhat's dairy business for ₹17 Billion. This will be Lactalis's third acquisition in India.[15]
On 15 September 2020, Groupe Lactalis announced an agreement to acquire Kraft Heinz's natural cheese operations in North America and internationally for $3.2billion.[16] The U.S. Department of Justice ruled that Lactalis must divest the Athenos and Polly-O cheese brands.[17]
In April 2023, Lactalis American Group announced an investment of $32 million to construct a new whey-processing facility in South Buffalo, boosting its production of the ingredient by 30%.[18]
Operations
Owned by the Belgian holding company BSA International SA, which is controlled by the Besnier family that founded Lactalis, Lactalis in 2015 had global revenues of 16.5billion euros. Lactalis employs 75,000 people worldwide, at 237 production sites in 43 countries.[19] The headquarters for Lactalis American Group, Inc. is located in Buffalo, New York.
Controversies
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In August 2016, farmers blockaded the company's headquarters in Laval, protesting what they saw as price fixing.[20]
In January 2018, the company had to withdraw 12 million boxes of baby formula due to a salmonella contamination. They were accused of trying to hide the initial discovery of contamination, which led to the crisis.[21][22][23]
In 2020 allegations were made that 38 of Lactalis's production plants in France had breached environmental regulations, and had been doing so for a number of years. Lactalis stated it had invested €60million in improving wastewater treatment plants.[24]
In February 2023, Lactalis Group and Celia Laiterie de Craon, a company linked to the group, were charged with aggravated deception, involuntary injuries and non-execution of withdrawal and recall measures in a five-year-old case where babies were diagnosed with salmonellosis after consuming the French dairy group's infant milk products, with both firms placed under judicial supervision with a bond of €300,000 each.[25]
In July 2023, Lactalis Australia was fined A$950,000 by the Federal Court for breaching the Dairy Code of Conduct in 2020.[26]
In February 2024, the Spanish Audiencia Nacional fined Lactalis with 11.69 million euros for forming a cartel with other milk companies to avoid competition when buying milk from Spanish farmers between 2000 and 2013. The farmers can now further sue for damages.[27]
Lactalis cheeses with Président – Rouy • Lepetit • Bridélight • Galbani • Rondelé • Munster's Little Friends
Lactalis Butter & Creams with President – Bridélice • Bridélight • Primrose
Lactel with Awakening – Day after day • Morning Light
Lactalis AOC with Pochat – Istara • Beulet • Salakis • Lanquetot • Roquefort Société • Golden Ball • Lou Pérac • The Ruby • Raguin • The Stone Bridge
Lactalis consumption AFH with President – Society • Bridel • Locatelli
Lactalis industry with BBA – Calciane • Prolacta
Tendriade Veal with Tendriade – Eurovo • Voréal
Lactalis International with President – Sorrento • Valbreso • Galbani • Sorrento • Locatelli • Invernizzi
LNUF with The Milkmaid – Yoco • Flanby • Sveltesse • Vienna • Greek Yogurt • Kremly • BA • Fold
Lactalis owns 198 industrial sites in 55 countries including the US, Romania, Poland, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia ("სანტე" brand), United Kingdom, Australia and as of 2011, Canada and South Africa. Lactalis mostly produces yogurt, butter, cheese, powdered milk, baby formula and milk drinks.
Parmalat S.p.A. is an Italian dairy and food corporation which is a subsidiary of French multinational company Lactalis. It was founded by Calisto Tanzi in 1961.
Danone S.A. is a French multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in 1919 in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris, where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of the company's products are branded Dannon in the United States.
Britannia Industries Limited is an Indian multinational food products company, which sells biscuits, breads and dairy products. Founded in 1892, it is one of India's oldest existing companies and currently part of the Wadia Group headed by Nusli Wadia. As of 2023, about 80% of its revenues came from biscuit products.
Kraft Foods Inc. was a multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It marketed many brands in more than 170 countries. Twelve of its brands annually earned more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oreo, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, and Tang. Forty of its brands were at least a century old.
Bega Dairy & Drinks is a subsidiary of Australian diversified food company the Bega Group, having been purchased from the Japanese company Kirin in November 2020. While owned by Kirin, it was known as Lion Dairy & Drinks.
Horizon Organic is an American company that produces organic milk and other organic food products. Largest supplier of organic milk in North America, its products are sold in supermarkets and grocery stores.
Strauss Group Ltd., formerly known as Strauss-Elite, is an Israeli manufacturer and marketer of consumer foods sold through retail stores. It is among the largest food manufacturers in Israel. Strauss Group focuses on dairy products, coffee, water, snacks, salads, and dips. Its subsidiary Strauss Coffee is a leading coffee company in Eastern Europe and Brazil. Strauss Group is a public company traded in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, with the majority of its shares (57%) being owned by the Strauss family.
Jacob's is an Irish brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The brand name is owned by the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, part of Valeo Foods, which produces snacks for the Irish market. The brand name is used under licence by United Biscuits, part of Pladis and by Mondelez International in Asia.
Stonyfield Farm, also simply called Stonyfield, is an organic yogurt maker and dairy company located in Londonderry, New Hampshire, United States. Stonyfield Farm was founded by Samuel Kaymen in 1983, on a 19th-century farmstead in Wilton, New Hampshire, as an organic farming school. The company makes the second leading brand of organic yogurt in North America, with 13.3% of the market.
Président is a French dairy brand owned by Lactalis of Laval, Mayenne. The brand was created in 1933 by André Besnier. It is used for butter and for a range of industrially produced versions of traditional cheese.
Danone North America is a consumer packaged food and beverage company based in White Plains, New York, U.S, that manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells branded premium dairy products, plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers, and organic produce throughout North America and Europe.
Michel Besnier (1928–2000) was a French heir and businessman. He served as the chief executive officer of the Besnier Group, later known as Lactalis.
The Bega Group is an Australian diversified food and drinks company with manufacturing sites in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Victoria. Founded as an agricultural cooperative in the town of Bega, New South Wales by their dairy suppliers, it became a public company in 2011 when it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Close to half of shares publicly traded are still held by Bega's farmer-suppliers. It is currently one of the largest companies in the dairy sector in Australia, with a base milk supply in 2018 of approximately 750 million litres per annum.
Granarolo S.p.A. is a food company in Italy founded in 1957 and based in Bologna. It operates in the fresh milk and dairy-cheese sector, dry pasta, deli meats and vegetable foods.
Siggi's Dairy is an American brand of skyr – an Icelandic version of yogurt – that is owned by Icelandic Milk & Skyr Corporation. The company was founded in 2006 by Icelander Siggi Hilmarsson, who sold his yogurt locally in New York, before launching in Whole Foods Market stores across the United States in 2008.
Parag Milk Foods is an Indian company that manufactures, markets and sells milk and milk products. The company is India's second largest producer of cheese under its brand Go and the country's largest producer of cow ghee under its brand Govardhan. In 2015, the company began producing whey protein powder and since then has launched branded protein powder products as well. As of 2017, the company's daily procurement of milk was 1.2 million litres.
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