Fonterra silent on report French dairy giant Lactalis frontrunner to buy consumer brands

Monday, 11 August 2025

Fonterra’s Anchor butter brand could soon be owned by French dairy giant Lactalis.

Fonterra says it won’t comment on “speculation” that French dairy giant Lactalis has been granted exclusive negotiations in the sale of Fonterra’s consumer brands, including Anchor and Mainland.

“We are in a confidential and competitive sale process with multiple interested parties,” Fonterra said in a statement. “As such, we won’t be commenting on speculation.”

“Our focus is on running a robust divestment process for the full perimeter of our global consumer and integrated businesses.”

The Australian Financial Review news service reported that Lactalis had secured the box seat to buy Fonterra’s consumer brands business.

If that were to happen, it would end the possibility of it being sold in an initial public offering on the NZX sharemarket, providing an opportunity for KiwiSaver funds to invest in the local dairy industry.

The consumer brands business is on the block as part of a turnaround strategy for Fonterra, which would see it focus on its ingredients and food service operations.

The finance minister demands answers from Fonterra over skyrocketing butter prices, Luxon throws barbs at Labour, and a new poll shows the public growing restless.

Other bidders for Fonterra are reported to include Japan’s Meiji and Australia’s Bega Group.

Unlike Meiji and Bega, Lactalis is a privately held company, whose shares are not listed on a stock exchange for investors like pension funds to buy.

Already Lactalis has been given the go-ahead by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which said last month that it would not oppose Lactalis buying Fonterra’s consumer interests.

Lactalis is owned by the wealthy Besnier family.

On its website, Lactalis says it is the ninth largest food group in the world, and the world’s largest dairy company with more than 85,000 employees worldwide.

Lactalis is a French dairy company. It claims the title of the world's largest cheesemaker.

It says it sells dairy products in 150 countries under brands including Kraft in America, President in France, Parmalat in Italy, Seriously in Scotland and Penguin in the Middle East. It says it is the world’s biggest cheesemaker.

Lactalis was founded in 1933 by Camembert cheesemaker Andre Besnier, but has grown through a series of acquisitions around the world.