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Firmly Rooted in the Northeast, Lactalis Is Growing and “Here to Stay”

BY COURTNEY KLESS

Lactalis Group began as a small family cheese company in 1933.

The company has grown significantly since then, adding milk, butter and yogurt to its offerings and selling its products in 94 countries around the world – including the United States.

But there is one thing that hasn’t changed.

“Our values of ambition and engagement with simplicity — those go back almost 100 years and are still widely talked about within the company,” said Chris Bona, director of U.S. communications for Lactalis. “We’re the world’s largest dairy company, but it still feels like we’re a small company at every level.”

Nearly nine decades ago, André Besnier founded the Lactalis Group in Laval, France. In the early 1980s, the company opened its first facility in the United States, an import office in New York City for European cheeses. Lactalis would continue to expand in the United States from there, acquiring Sorrento Cheese and establishing a corporate office in Buffalo, New York, in 1992 and expanding its production of Italian cheeses with a new plant in Nampa, Idaho in 1999. There have been numerous other acquisitions since then, including Kraft Heinz’s natural cheese business, which was finalized at the end of November. Lactalis now has 11 plants in the United States.

“Lactalis in the United States began in the Northeast, and this has been the market that has driven our recent external growth, mostly through the acquisition of broad-based branded products that are located here,” said Don Heins, manager of U.S. communications for

the company. “Largely because of those acquisitions that have been made in the Northeast, we have grown from $1.7 billion in revenue in 2017 to $3.3 billion in 2021. The United States is Lactalis’ second largest market in the world [behind France].”

Now run by the third generation of the Besnier family, the Lactalis Group has four divisions in the Northeast: Lactalis Heritage Dairy, the cheese businesses acquired from Kraft Heinz; Lactalis American Group, the rest of its largely European cheese business; Lactalis U.S. Yogurt, its yogurt businesses; and its ethnic cheese division, Karoun Dairies. The company’s product portfolio features a number of global and award-winning brands, including Galbani (Italian cheeses), Président (specialty cheeses, gourmet butters), Parmalat (milk), Black Diamond (cheddar cheese), Green Mountain Creamery (yogurt), Stonyfield (organic yogurt), Siggi’s (natural yogurt), Cracker Barrel (cheese) and Breakstones (cottage cheese, ricotta, sour cream).

Largely because of those acquisitions that have been made in the Northeast, we have grown from $1.7 billion in revenue in 2017 to $3.3 billion in 2021.

Lactalis was most recently recognized for its cheesemaking excellence with 20 medals at the World Championship Cheese Contest, including nine gold (see page 45). Lactalis’ premier global brands, Galbani and Président, received eight awards.

Bona estimated that in the United States alone, 4.6 billion pounds of milk are collected by the company for product production each year.

“We want people to know Lactalis for a couple things,” said Bona. “One is that we want to be an employer of choice. We want to be a place where people want to come and grow their career. [At our national meeting], I can’t tell you how many people I bumped into that have been here for 20, 30, 40 years. I ask them, ‘Why do you stay?’ and they have wonderful things to say about the culture and the products. And ,number two, dairy leadership is really important for us. We’re a company that consumers might not yet know by the corporate brand, but they will know us by our product brands. When you look at the premier brands, they’re well-known, well-established, beloved brands.”

Even with all of its success, the company is still looking for new ways to “inspire” and “delight” its customers.

“Innovation is an important part of the company’s business strategy,” said Bona. One recent example is the introduction of UP2U RECOVER, a line of protein drinks and unflavored protein powder. Both feature a fast-absorbing protein, and the drinks do not contain any added sugars (instead, dragon fruit is used as a sweetener).

“What makes it unique is the whey that we take is not necessarily a byproduct, but we extract native whey from milk, which means the protein count is higher, and so the absorption rate in the body is higher,” said Bona. “For a sports enthusiast or athlete looking to recover, they’re getting a really high amount of protein absorbed very quickly. Comparatively, other protein drinks that aren’t made of protein, that more pure version, it takes more time throughout the day to absorb in the body.”

Clearly, a lot has changed since 1933, but the company’s culture and core values have remained the same.

“Those values that we had years ago still come through,” said Bona. “So, what does it feel like to work at Lactalis? Whether you’re in a production plant or you’re in a corporate office, it feels like you’re working for a family who is passionate about cheese and dairy. We like to be close to the consumers and customers, providing them fresh food. We like to be close to the farms and family tables to get products to our customers, which is why we are so invested in the Northeast.”

And Lactalis has no plans to change that any time soon – both in the United States and beyond.

“We’re committed to the dairy

industry and to being a world leader in dairy,” said Bona. “Our brand products are beloved by consumers. Galbani and Président are premier brands. Kraft is a premier brand. Siggi’s. Stonyfield. If you look at how we’ve been growing the business, we’re invested in the space as a pure dairy company. In the future, especially in the U.S., we’re going to continue to invest in our products, in our people and in our manufacturing plants. Culturally, it’s a company with roots in manufacturing. We’re here to stay.” Courtney Kless is a staff writer for Northeast Dairy Media.

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Contact Bill Brod by emailing billbrod@nedairymedia.com or calling 315-445-2347, ext. 138.