Lactalis South Africa will continue to collect milk from producers regardless of their foot-and-mouth disease status, the company has said in a letter to its producers in response to recent outbreaks of the disease in the Western Cape.
A dairy farmer who does not supply Lactalis South Africa but approves of the fact that the company “has taken a stand” forwarded the letter to African Farming. It has been circulating among farmers in the vicinity of recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) on farms near Hartenbos on the Garden Route.
Lactalis SA forms part of the international Lactalis Group –South African consumers will know its brands Parmalat and Président, among others.
In the letter, Hendrik du Plessis, milk procurement executive at Lactalis SA, expresses his concern about the outbreaks in the Western Cape in February and renewed outbreaks in the Eastern Cape. The only previous outbreak in the Western Cape occurred in Gouda in November 2025, and was quickly isolated and contained.
“We learnt during the outbreaks in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal that the spread of FMD is very difficult to stop, and we believe that a universal, repeated vaccine strategy is the only way to keep our national dairy herd healthy and productive,” the letter reads.
Du Plessis says Lactalis SA is negotiating with the Western Cape and national state veterinarian departments to see whether it can facilitate the acquisition and ringfencing of vaccines for its milk producers. “The feedback thus far has been positive, but there are still many regulatory barriers to overcome.”
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Producers Urged to Avoid Unregulated Vaccines
Du Plessis writes that Lactalis SA urges its producers not to use unregulated vaccines, as these could introduce foreign FMD strains into the country, and their efficacy is not guaranteed. He asks producers to contact the company immediately should they suspect an FMD outbreak on their farms or within a 10km radius. “We will not punish you but will try to assist you in any way possible.
“South African milk processors will face difficulty to continue exporting to Namibia (an important export market) should all milk producers not be registered on ECOS [the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s export certification system]. We will be in touch should you not be registered, but please provide your cooperation to facilitate registration as soon as possible.”
Du Plessis also says that, going forward, only communication from Lactalis, the authorities, the Milk Producers’ Organisation (MPO) and Milk South Africa will be distributed on its platform to ensure that it does not contribute to the spread of unfounded rumours.
• According to its website, the international Lactalis Group operates in 51 countries. The original company, Laval, was founded in France in 1933 and over the years operated under various names and acquired interests in several other companies. With the purchase of a majority stake in Parmalat in 2011, it became the largest international dairy company.
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