Lactalis
Product categories assessed
Dairy|Juice|RTD Coffee|Sauces, Dressings, and CondimentsPercentage of company global sales covered by Product Profile assessment
55-60%Headquarters
FranceNumber of employees
80000Type of ownership
PrivateImportant:
The findings of this Index regarding companies’ performance rely to a large extent on information shared by companies, in addition to information that is available in the public domain. Several factors beyond the companies’ control may impact the availability of information such as differences in disclosure requirements among countries or capacity constraints within companies, amongst others the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, in the case of limited or no engagement by such companies, this Index may not represent the full extent of their efforts.
Corporate Profile
Rank 23
Commitment
Performance
Disclosure
Main areas
of strength
● GOVERNANCE: Since the previous iteration, Lactalis has slightly improved its score on the Index. The change is attributed to two reasons: the first is a statement on the company’s local website that demonstrates the commitment to providing high-quality ingredients with a focus on health and nutrition; the second is a disclosure on Lactalis’ website that it changed its labeling to include “Best if used by”, instead of “Use by”, to reduce food waste.
● PRODUCTS: Lactalis is one of the two companies that has the 5th highest mean healthiness score of 6.1 out of 10 - an indication of the nutritional quality of company’s products in best-selling categories across major markets.
Priority areas
for improvement
● SCORES AND RANKS: As seen in earlier Index iterations, Lactalis’ disclosure is limited and the company did not engage in the research process, ranking 23rd on this Global Index. Because it is privately owned, the company is not subject to the same regulatory disclosure requirements as publicly listed firms. However, Lactalis competes for the same consumers as those firms, as the success of its business is subject to the same market forces. Increased disclosure and engagement on nutrition initiatives would allow for a more complete assessment of the company’s performance in preventing and addressing nutrition-challenges, as well as for the identification of areas of strengths and those that need improvement.
● GOVERNANCE: The company is encouraged to extend its commitment to providing high-quality ingredients, with a focus on health and nutrition, to all the group’s operations. Because it is privately owned, the company is not subject to the same regulatory disclosure requirements as publicly listed firms. However, Lactalis competes for the same consumers as these, and the success of its business is subject to the same market forces. Increased disclosure and engagement on nutrition initiatives would allow for a more complete assessment of the company’s performance in preventing and addressing obesity and undernutrition. ATNI advises Lactalis to develop and disclose a nutrition policy that specifies how the company contributes to improved nutrition and health in the countries in which it operates through its commercial strategy and activities.
● GOVERNANCE: Lactalis is advised to publish regular reports on its overall approach to tackling nutrition issues. It is observed that one of the company’s subsidiaries, Parmalat, publishes annual reports, so the company is encouraged to publish similar reports at group level.
● PRODUCTS: It is recommended that Lactalis defines what products it classifies as ‘healthy’ based on objective nutrition criteria (using an internationally-recognized Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM)), and implements a strategy towards a healthier product portfolio by setting product formulation and/or reformulation targets.
● ACCESSIBILITY: The company is encouraged to adopt and publish a policy to improve the affordability and physical accessibility of products that meet healthy criteria, showing how it reaches low-income populations or populations which lack regular access to healthy, affordable food.
● MARKETING: The company could consider adopting and publishing a marketing policy that addresses both general aspects of responsible marketing and specific commitments to ensure that marketing of unhealthy products to children is avoided, aligned with the World Health Organization (WHO) regional nutrient profile models (that establish which products should not be marketed to children).
● LABELING: Lactalis is encouraged to adopt and publish a labeling policy to ensure that nutrition information is provided on all packaged food and beverage products, according to Codex Alimentarius guidelines and in compliance with national regulations in the countries in which it operates.
Category Analysis
Governance
Products
Accessibility
Marketing
Workforce
Labeling
Engagement
Nutrition
- A1
- Nutrition strategy
- A2
- Nutrition management
- A3
- Reporting quality
- B1
- Product Profile
- B2
- Product formulation
- B3
- Defining healthy products
- C1
- Product pricing
- C2
- Product distribution
- D1
- Marketing policy
- D2
- Marketing to children
- D3
- Auditing and compliance
- E1
- Employee health
- E2
- Breastfeeding support
- E3
- Consumer health
- F1
- Product labeling
- F2
- Claims
- G1
- Influencing policymakers
- G2
- Stakeholder engagement
Commitment
Performance
Disclosure
Detailed Product Profile Results
The Product Profile is an independent assessment of the nutritional quality of companies’ product portfolios. For this purpose, ATNI uses the Health Star Rating (HSR) model, which rates foods from 0.5 to 5.0 based on their nutritional quality. ATNI uses the threshold of 3.5 stars or more to classify products as generally healthy. This assessment is undertaken in partnership with The George Institute for Global Health (TGI), with additional data input from Innova Market Insights.
The methodology for the Global Index 2021 Product Profile has been revised and now includes three scored elements. The overall Product Profile score reflects: B1.1, the mean healthiness of a company’s product portfolio; B1.2, the relative healthiness within product categories compared to peers, and; B1.3, changes in the nutritional quality of product portfolios compared to the Global Index 2018 Product Profile. The steps taken to calculate the final Product Profile scores are visualized in Box 1. The next section further explains each of these three elements.
Lactalis has been assessed for the second time in the Global Index Product Profile. In the previous assessment, seven of the company’s markets were selected, and a total of 561 products analyzed – accounting for approximately 15-20% of global retail sales in 2017, excluding baby foods, plain tea and coffee. In this Index, a total of 1468 products have been analyzed across 10 of the company’s major markets. Products from the top five best-selling product categories within each market are included. In 2019, these products accounted for 55-60% of the company’s global retail sales, excluding baby foods.
Brazil, Canada and France are new countries included in this iteration. Hong Kong and New Zealand were included in the 2018 but have been omitted this time. In 2018, a total of three product categories were covered by the assessment, compared to four categories in 2021 ‘Sauces, Dressings and Condiments’ new category in 2021). Products form the ‘Sauces, Dressings and Condiments’ categories were assessed in 2021 but not in 2018.
In this Product Profile assessment, Lactalis scores 6.1 out of 10 (B1.1) in the mean healthiness element, 6.7 out of 10 (B1.2) for the relative healthiness of its products within categories compared to peers, and 0 out of 10 (B1.3) for changes in nutritional quality (mean HSR) over time. This results in Lactalis obtaining an overall score of 4.3 out of 10, ranking 16 out of 25 in the Product Profile.
B1.1 Portfolio-level Results
| Average HSR (out of 5 stars) (sales- weighted) |
10 Countries included |
Range of global sales included |
Healthy products (HSR) |
Products suitable to market to children (WHO regional models) - UNSCORED |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, India, Mexico, South Africa, UK, USA | 55-60% | No. products assessed |
% products healthy (≥3.5 stars) |
% retail sales healthy 2019 (≥3.5 stars) – assessed countries only |
% estimated global retail sales healthy 2019 (≥3.5 stars) |
No. products assessed |
% products suitable |
% sales from suitable |
| 1468 | 51% | 50% | 51% | 1533 | 15% | 15% | |||
● A total of 1,468 products manufactured by Lactalis, sold in 10 countries, covering four product categories, were included in this Product Profile (baby foods are not assessed). The company’s sales-weighted mean HSR is 3.0 out of 5. ATNI turns this value into a score between 0 and 10, resulting in a mean healthiness score of 6.1 out of 10 for Lactalis. The company ranks five out of 25 companies in this first scored element (B1.1).
● Overall, 51% of distinct products assessed were found to meet the HSR healthy threshold (HSR >=3.5). Together, these products accounted for an estimated 50% of Lactalis’ retail sales of packaged food and beverages 2019 in the selected markets (excluding baby foods). Assuming the products and markets included in the assessment are representative of the company’s overall global sales, ATNI estimates the company derived approximately 51% of its global retail sales from healthy products in 2019.
WHO nutrient profiling models (unscored): 15% of products assessed were found to be of sufficient nutritional quality to market to children, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) regional nutrient profiling models. These products were estimated to generate 15% of the company’s sales in 2019. More information on this part of the assessment can be found in the Marketing section (Category D) of the Index.
B1.2. Product Category Results
| No. products analyzed |
% products healthy (HSR>=3.5) |
Company mean HSR |
Mean HSR for all companies selling this product category |
Company performance (rank in mean HSR compared to peers selling products in the same category) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dairy | 1437 | 50% | 3.1 | 2.9 | 7th out of 18 |
| Sauces, Dressings, and Condiments | 6 | 51% | 2.6 | 2.5 | 5th out of 11 |
| Juice | 15 | 73% | 4.3 | 3.2 | 1st out of 8 |
| RTD Coffee | 10 | 100% | 4.1 | 2.7 | 1st out of 6 |
● For Lactalis, products from the ‘Juice’ category achieved the highest mean HSR, where a total of 15 products analyzed obtained mean HSR of 4.3 out of 5. The ‘Sauces, Dressings, and Condiments’ (2.6) had the lowest mean HSR of all product categories included for Lactalis.
● Products from all four categories assessed for Lactalis, on average, perform equal to or better than the mean HSR of companies selling products in the same categories. The company performs best compared to peers in the following product categories; ‘Juice’ and ‘RTD Coffee.’
● Lactalis scores 6.7 out of 10 in this second scored element (B1.2) and ranks 12 out of 25 companies. This is based on its ranking compared to peers within the four categories, using the scoring system set out in ATNI’s methodology.
B1.3. Change in mean HSR
| No. of products analyzed in 2018 |
No. of products analyzed in 2021 |
Sales weighted mean HSR 2018 |
Sales weighted mean HSR 2021 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 283 | 295 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| Mexico | 10 | 27 | 3.6 | 3.4 |
| South Africa | 107 | 104 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| UK | 76 | 97 | 3.3 | 3.3 |
| USA | 33 | 173 | 3 | 3.3 |
| TOTAL | 509 | 696 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
● This third scored element only takes into account five countries included in both 2018 and 2021 assessments. For Lactalis, a larger number of products were assessed in 2021, which could have impacted the overall results. In 2018 the USA represented 10% of sales within the 5 countries examined. However, in 2021 this more than doubled to 26%. A corresponding decrease in the proportion of sales from Australia and Mexico contributed to the decrease in mean HSR overall, with Australia and Mexico having the highest mean HSR of the 5 countries included.
● Adjusting scores by country sales weighted estimates (which gives more weight to company’s largest markets), Lactalis portfolio-level results decrease by 0.1 mean HSR between 2018 and 2021 in the selected markets, resulting in a score of 0 out of 10 on this element using the scoring system set out in ATNI’s methodology.
Full Product Profile report