Lactalis and supplier organization Unell have reached an agreement on the milk price for 2025. They will receive €1.00 per 100 liters more than this year, plus €0.40 sustainability surcharge. The news comes shortly after CEO Thierry Cotillard of supermarket chain Intermarché said he does not make price agreements with the French dairy industry as long as farmers do not know what they can earn.
Negotiations on the milk price for 2025 have been ongoing since spring. According to the agreement now reached, Lactalis farmers will receive a milk price of €47.70 per 100 liters next year. This is at 3.8% fat and 3.2% protein. Unell has 5,300 members and they supply 60% of the milk purchased by Lactalis in France. The total milk volume of Lactalis in France is approximately 5 billion liters.
The dairy giant, owned by the Besnier family, is not the best payer of milk money. That title belongs more to the emerging family business LSDH (Laiterie Saint Denis de l'Hotel). This company is a major supplier of UHT milk to French supermarkets and pays farmers almost €52 per 100 liters. It is therefore a popular company to supply to. LSDH also seems to make good choices for farmers. Not only does it still sell French 'fair milk' (C'est qui le patron), as known in the Netherlands from the DDB, but it is also in talks with a large group of farmers who are being sidelined by Lactalis. LSDH believes it can take over at least a hundred.
The French spot milk price has been significantly higher than the factory price for a long time. The latter is therefore on average between €45 and €51 per 100 liters, the spot milk price averaged €65 per 100 liters in France in week 47, according to French sources.
