News Dairy
Low French milk price remains a headache file
French dairy farmers have been murmuring for months about the low milk price. The payout prices of processors in the country are lagging far behind compared to elsewhere in Europe. This led to protests again at dairy cooperative Sodiaal last week. Lactalis in turn promises improvement, but cannot offer dairy farmers more than €50 per 100 litres.
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Last Friday, dozens of dairy farmers gathered again with their tractors at various production locations of the Sodiaal dairy cooperative. It seems they have long since given up hope of a higher milk price. What they want now is mainly insight and transparency into how the milk price is determined. The milk price they receive amounts to approximately €42 per 100 liters. Measured against the milk price that is above €60 in neighboring countries such as the Netherlands, this is far too little, they think. Moreover, the milk price does not cover costs.
During the demonstration, dairy farmers entered into discussions with Sodiaal directors, but that did not take the cold out of the air. Sodiaal relies on difficult negotiations with the retail sector. Even the French government is getting involved. She called on retailers in September to agree to the higher dairy prices, but retailers did not respond. They find the requested price increases unreasonable and want more insight into the increased costs in the chain.
lactalis
Market leader Lactalis has also been under fire for some time, as has Danone. The private dairy group has increased the milk price for the fourth quarter to just €50 per 100 liters. According to Lactalis, more is not feasible due to the sharply increased costs in the chain. The dairy group claims that its energy bill has almost doubled to more than €1 billion. Lactalis' turnover last year amounted to approximately €20 billion.