The results were also influenced by lower milk prices.
According to the latest research from Rabobank, lower milk prices in 2023 compared to higher values in 2022 were a significant factor in the performance of companies and cooperatives that made it to the top 20 list this year.
The report highlights a slowdown in revenue growth due to lower milk prices in 2023 compared to high prices in 2022.
This trend has particularly affected European cooperatives, with seven companies worldwide reporting lower revenues in their local currencies.
Despite this, many companies managed to record higher profits and margins than in the previous year,” Rabobank detailed.
Ranking changes
Topping the list again in 2023 was the French group Lactalis, which retained the top spot for the third year in a row.
It became the first company to surpass $30 billion in annual dairy-related revenues thanks to steady revenue expansion in recent years.
Nestlé came in second on the list, while the largest U.S. cooperative, Dairy Farmers, dropped to third, largely because of lower milk prices compared with a year earlier. Both Danone — which was forced to divest its Russian business — and Chinese dairy firm Yili maintained their fourth and fifth spots in this year’s Global Dairy Top 20.
Read more
Global Dairy Top 20 – ranking of the giants of the global dairy industry 
