​French dairy firm wins top sustainability award

​The company won for their Sustainable Livestock Farming project, where they have encouraged the development of pasture access for 100% of their farms and have worked towards increasing the longevity of the cows and goats in their supply chain.

They are also phasing out deforesting soy in feed and are planting up to 40 km of new hedges. The work was judged as a good example of how a dairy group can help its farmers adopt better animal welfare, environmental protection and sustainable farming measures.

Henri Triballat, director of milk production at Laiteries H. Triballat Rians, said in order to promote sustainable practices from field to plate, the company had built its commitments for sustainable and responsible farming with 9 producers organisations representing the 450 affiliated milk producers over the next 6-7 years, as well as NGOs, including Compassion.

Animal welfare

“This Sustainable Food and Farming Awards is proof of our collective actions and commitments to animal welfare and a more sustainable model. It also encourages us to continue our efforts. It is together, through regular exchanges with milk producers, working groups and monitoring the progress made, that these commitments to sustainable livestock farming will succeed,” said Triballat.

The company, which has 1,500 employees and turns over €300 million is based on a 100% family shareholding, produces a range of cheese, milk, cream, desserts and other related products for the French market.

It celebrated its 120th anniversary last year and it carries an ambitious CSR approach. Called ‘LFE’ for “committed family dairy”, the programme focuses both on reducing the environmental footprint and promoting sustainable farming.

Commenting on the awards, Compassion in World Farming’s director of food business, Tracey Jones, said the winning companies had shown genuine leadership and motivation at a time when the global food industry had been confronted with serious issues following the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine.

“The continued progress for animal welfare is heartening, while the ongoing work in the future food space is encouraging and signals that the food industry is ready to tackle one of the biggest challenges of our time – how to build a humane, sustainable and resilient food system for future generations.”