Milk price: Lactalis offers an increase to its suppliers, who refuse it

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: DAMIEN MEYER / AFP 6:36 p.m., February 4, 2024

The global milk giant Lactalis proposed an increase of 15 euros per 1,000 liters of milk to its producers for the first two months of 2024, but the latter refused it, according to the dairy industrial group and according to Les Echos. "In a constructive spirit, Lactalis France is revising its January price by increasing it from 405 EUR/1,000 L to 420 EUR/1,000 L in 38/32 and is increasing it by 15 EUR also in February to 420 EUR. This effort corresponds to 15 EUR more than the Unell-Lactalis contractual formula,” Lactalis said in a press release on Saturday. 38/32 milk is the industry standard and means 38 grams of fat and 32 grams of protein per liter.

The producers' organization calls for a 5% increase

All premiums combined, this brings the total remuneration to producers "to 460 EUR/1,000 L over the first two months of the year", argues the industrialist. But according to Lactalis, Unell, which represents more than 4,000 dairy farms delivering more than 2 billion liters of milk to Lactalis, rejected this proposal. Contacted on Sunday by AFP, Unell was not immediately available to comment on this information. According to Les Echos, the producers' organization is demanding an increase of 5%, against the 3.7% proposed by Lactalis as a compromise. “Lactalis France will continue the dialogue with Unell under the aegis of mediation,” Lactalis confirmed to AFP on Sunday.

In mid-January, before the national mobilizations of farmers demanded, among other things, better incomes, milk producers demonstrated in front of several Lactalis sites in the west of France to denounce the price of 405 euros for 1,000 liters (i.e. 40 cents per liter), set according to them unilaterally by the group and which "does not take into account at all the Egalim law" which provides for "the negotiation and integration of the production costs of milk leaving our farms".

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Currently, the price of milk "is far from the needs of breeders in view of the evolution of production costs and the investments necessary to maintain their activity and attract young people", had denounced shortly before the dairy section of the Regional Federation of the Western Farmers' Unions (FRSEAO). To calm the anger of farmers, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal promised on Thursday a "strengthening" of the Egalim law, with "massive controls" on manufacturers and distributors, as well as sanctions against those who do not respect this law.