Lactalis Italia, the forecast of the managers: « With the duties Grana and Parmigiano the most exposed, in 2018 we lost 18% »

«We are already talking to our American branch to try not to increase the price of our products to the consumer too much. We want to try to absorb a part of the increases caused by duties without getting them to customers, but an increase in the shelf price will be inevitable ». The director of Lacatalis Italia Export, Mauro Frantallizziwhich we meet at the Tricolor dairy in Reggio Emilia, one of the largest for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano, does not hide that the protectionist measures introduced by the American president Donald Trump On April 2, in the now famous press conference in the Garden of the Roses of the White House, it will have repercussions on the exports of the many Made in Italy products that come out of the various Italian factories of the French food giant.

The duties of 2018 made 18% of the turnover lose

It still confides that the dialectic between Europe and the United States brings in the coming weeks to « a synthesis different from what we have now », but in any case everything must be predicted. « If we manage to absorb part of the cost, we will undoubtedly earn less and will also gain less from the impact on the rotations of the product on the shelves, » admits Frantallizzi, whose thought immediately flies to 2018, when Trump imposed his super duties for the first time. « In that year we recorded a drop in exports of Italian cheeses in the USA of about 18% ». The hope is that at this tour « the impact may be less strong », as explained Michele Fochigeneral manager of Ambrosi and Nuova Castelli. The United States represent one of the most strategic markets for Lactalis Italia, which exports 6% of the total of its cheeses, with a share that rises to 10% for Parmigiano Reggiano. And « the major impact will be precisely for these two », confirms Fochi.

« The psychological problem »

From this moment, « hard cheeses will be subject to a total duty of 35%, adding 15%already existing to a further 20%, while the mozzarella will face a total duty of 30% », explains Furantellizzi. Will the wealthy American consumer still be able to buy the quality of the Parmigiano Reggiano and the other PDOs and support the increases? According to the manager no. « It is also a psychological problem« , explains. « Our products already cost a little more and if from 40 €/kg you arrive, for example, to 60, the impact is inevitable, considering that there are American products at already minor prices, such as the Parmesan and the Gorgonzola domestic, produced in Wisconsin ».

Now the competition with the US local cheeses becomes more difficult

Lactalis is not for the demonization of domestic products « if they do not deceive the consumer ». The demonstration, explains Frantellizzi, is in the Roman pecorino that, in the face of a local competitor such as Pecorino Cheese, the export of the original in the US covers 50% of his production « . But « it is clear that when the duties are introduced », continues the manager, « peaceful coexistence becomes difficult to sustain ». The first Trump made Lactalis Italia lose « A year of growth » In 2018 and the mannaia of bis duties falls on a particularly flourishing moment for Made in Italy, which « in the last 10 years has established itself in all countries, where there is literally a » hunger « of Italy ». Just think that Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano closed 2024 in the United States with almost 20 thousand tons exported, marking an increase of 10.3% compared to the previous year. With these new duties, the slowdown is inevitably.

Lactalis in Italy: 8 dop cheeses

From the plant Galbani in Casale Cremasco al Tricolor dairy of Reggio Emilia, up to the Parmalat of Collecchio, the French group has 31 factories concentrated especially in the North (but there are also in Campania and Sicily) with a single portfolio of 4 thousand between juices, salami and dairy products and 8 dop cheeses on the 52 products in our country. The Italian division is also the main milk buyer of the national market with an annual collection of about 1.5 billion liters with over a thousand stables. In the end, cheeses produced, 42% sold by Lactalis Italia is destined abroad And alone it applies between 15 and 18% of all our exported cheeses.

The numbers of Lactalis Italia

First dairy group in the world and first Italian reality in the agri-food sector for capillarity and turnover, with 2.9 billion eurosLactalis Italia, which has beyond 5,300 employees and a network of 1,200 agents, in total boasted a Direct and indirect employment impact of 23,515 people. The company alone generates 14.5% of the entire turnover of the Italian sector and its annual growth is 7.2%, contributing to GDP with 2.8 billion. Despite being a multinational for some time, Emmanuel Besnierwho is the grandson of the founder and president of the giant, continues the family tradition of investing in the territories where his companies operate (250 million euros for Italy in the last 5 years), while preserving the uniqueness and local tradition of the products. All this goes hand in hand with attention to the environment, sustainability and animal welfare. In the last 4 years Lactalis in Italy has reduced the energy taken from the 40%network, the equivalent of annual energy consumption of about 54,500 families.