Lactalis Ingredients is a French company recognized as an international leader in the dairy ingredients industry. The company is headquartered in Laval, France.

History
Lactalis was founded on October 19, 1933 by André Besnier. He started his cheese business with just one employee, and together they were able to produce 17 cheeses (camembert) from 35 liters of milk on the first day.

By 1947, Besnier’s company had grown to 25 employees and became a private limited company. In 1955, Michel Besnier became the company’s chairman upon the sudden death of the founder André. By this time, the company had 50 employees and collected a total of 7 million liters of milk every year.

In 1961, the company name was changed to Société Laitiére Besnier.  At this point the company was collecting 32 million liters of milk every year. It was also during this year that the company introduced its carton-packed, fresh-pasteurized milk to Laval, France.

In 1967, when the company was collecting 110 million liters per year, it decided to open a new dry product facility in Mayenne, France. A year later, Président Camembert® was launched. Vitré Dairy was also opened when it launched its pasteurized milk product, which was in tetrapack cartons.

In 1976, the company had grown to 2000 employees. In the same year, it inaugurated its ‘continuous-use’ coagulator. This coagulator was said to be the first of its kind in the world. In 1985, the company acquired Nestlé subsidiary Claudel Roustang. In the same year, the company also launched its Lactel brand in the market. This label was intended for the company’s ultra-fresh products.

In 1988, the company purchased all the assets of Solaisud in Toulouse, Auch and Montauban, France. In 1990, the company took over Bridel Group. Bridel Group’s subsidiary Lanquetot, was also acquired by Besnier. In 1991, Besnier acquired Valmont Group and Girod Company.

In the early part of the 1990s, Besnier gradually entered the U.S. market when it was able to acquire several French companies that had operations in the United States. In 1999, Besnier became the Lactalis Group. In the same year, it was able to acquire two major cheese-making companies in the United States: Simplot Dairy and Concord Marketing.

In the succeeding years, the company continued its worldwide expansion, acquiring a number of companies in countries such as Russia and Italy. Currently, the Lactalis Group has a number of operations worldwide, along with a number of international brands in the dairy ingredients line.

Stats
• Headquarters: Laval, France/New York, New York (U.S. Headquarters)
• Ownership Type: Private
• No. of Employees: 38,200
• Geography: worldwide
• Demography: dairy ingredients consumers, whey consumers

Brands
Some of the company’s brands include Lactel®, Locatelli®, President®, Invernizzi®,

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