The scenarios are exponential. For this year, the increase in energy costs will already cost Lactalis 100 million euros, according to the company’s management. And depending on the evolution of prices, the bill could reach between €500 million and €1 billion by 2023!
For a cheese factory, energy now represents up to 40% of costs. This situation worries the giant of the food industry that claims to have started looking for other energy sources long before the war in Ukraine.
Conversion
As an alternative to gas, Lactalis uses, in particular, wood-fired boilers at its factory in Domfront (Orne), and solar thermal energy at Verdun (Meuse).
But the conversion takes time. It took about eighteen months just to get an administrative clearance.
The company also hopes to integrate this cost explosion into a new round of trade talks.
Source: BFM TV
