News Milk
Dairy farmers and Lactalis argue about milk prices
France's largest dairy group Lactalis and French dairy farmers have not agreed on the milk price in 2024. The proposed increase made by the supplier association Unell has been rejected by Lactalis.
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Lactalis carries over the milk price paid in December to January. This amounts to a basic price of €405 per 1.000 liters. Yahann Serreau, president of Unell, regrets that Lactalis has not come forward. Lactalis says the biggest challenge at the moment is to limit the decline in sales volumes. This means that an increase in the milk price is not justified at this time.
Lactalis also says that measures have been taken in 2022 and 2023 to correct for inflation and that the milk price will remain at a good level in 2024. In the past three years, the milk price of Lactalis increased by about 30%.
Faltering (organic) sales
In addition to the faltering conventional milk sales, Lactalis is also struggling in the organic segment. The company claims that by 2023 half of the organic milk price should be sold as conventional. In 2023, organic sales fell by another 12% due to inflation. Nevertheless, Lactalis says it took responsibility towards its organic suppliers last year by increasing the organic milk price to €504 per 1.000 liters.