Overview
- Lactalis, which disclosed Thursday it must pass part of the Middle East war’s impact to shoppers, said the extra bill runs to several tens of millions of euros and will vary by product category.
- The dairy group asked supermarkets to reopen 2026 price negotiations to share unforeseen costs, yet major chains have resisted reopening talks that were closed earlier this year.
- E. Leclerc’s chairman, Michel‑Édouard Leclerc, said he does not want midyear talks and warned against fresh increases, which means any hikes could take time to reach shelves or be scaled back.
- Higher fuel prices lifted freight costs and made plastic packaging pricier and scarcer, and packaging can represent up to about a third of the cost to make everyday dairy items such as cheese or cream.
- Lactalis reported 2025 revenue of €31.2 billion and net profit of €528 million and continues to expand, while infant‑formula recalls since December have drawn scrutiny even as two reported infant deaths in France have no proven link and the group remains under indictment from the 2017–2018 case.