A new mobilization, a few days before the highly anticipated Agricultural Show.
Around thirty farmers carried out a “punching action” on Tuesday evening near Vesoul (Haute-Saône) to denounce the “low purchase price” of milk by Lactalis.
“The objective is to bring Lactalis back to the negotiating table so that they can discuss the price of milk with the producers,” Xavier Jarrot, dairy farmer in Velesmes (Haute-Saône) and administrator at the FNPL (National Federation of Milk Producers).
Anger of farmers: new action in Haute-Saône, a Lactalis truck intercepted and emptied.
Around 10:45 p.m., around thirty people stopped a tanker truck intended for the Lanquetot brand.
“Unpaid milk = repossessed milk” or “Thief” was tagged.https://t.co/E9m6GzrF26 pic.twitter.com/zH9IvmQFTY
— France Bleu Besançon (@bleubesancon) February 20, 2024
“Lactalis had announced a price of 405 euros per 1000 liters for the first two months of the year.
After the actions we have taken over the past month, they added 15 euros for January and February, but it is still far from the 440 euros, what other dairies pay today in the department,” he said. he lamented.
“He is the biggest player in the sector, but he is the worst student, he is the one who pays the least,” he concluded.
A blocked tanker truck
Around 11 p.m., the farmers blocked the road to a Lactalis tanker truck with a capacity of more than 20,000 liters, which was finishing its tour of the farms in Dampierre-sur-Linotte, to extract the milk in order to redistribute to nearby breeders, “to feed the calves,” they explained.
“Lactalis always finds arguments not to pay the price for milk, while as the largest milk collector in France and globally, it should set a good example,” regretted Michaël Muhlematter, president of the FDPL of the department.
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why Lactalis crystallizes tensions so much
“With its brands like President, Lactel, Roquefort Société, Galbani, Lactalis behaves like a lord, giving what it wants to producers, without any possible negotiation,” he added.
“Discussion is much healthier with small, cooperative groups.
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The Lactalis group, chaired by Emmanuel Besnier, achieved more than 28 billion euros in turnover in 2022. At the beginning of the month, the group's headquarters in Mayenne, its offices in Paris and the Parisian mansion of Emmanuel Besnier were searched as part of an investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) for aggravated tax fraud and laundering of aggravated tax fraud, covering the years 2009-2020.