Mr Michel Besnier,André Besnier's son, was born on 18 September 1928 and began work in his father's business in 1946 at the age of 18.

In 1955, when his father passed away, he took over the reins of the family business and its 50 employees, and started to develop butter and Camembert production, first in Mayenne and then in Normandy.

In 1968, this remarkable entrepreneur perfected pasteurised Camembert and launched the Président brand, which was at first produced in his Laval cheese dairy and then moved to the Domfront cheese dairy in Normandy in 1972.

The immediate success of these products, supported by a bold marketing and promotional policy, enabled a rapid expansion of the company, which progressively took over a number of camembert brands in Normandy then, in 1980, moved into the Loire-Atlantique and Vendée regions with the purchase of Atlalait.

In 1981 came the purchase of the Belmont cheese dairy in the United States, the Group's first cheese production plant outside France.

In 1985 came the first significant external growth operation with the purchase of the company Claudel Roustang, a subsidiary of the Nestle Group.

Innovation was constant and 1990 saw the launch of UHT milk in a resealable plastic bottle.

The purchase of the Lactel and B'A brands in 1988 enabled the implementation of an aggressive sales policy regarding milk and fresh products.

In 1990, the takeover of the Bridel Group with its ten French production plants, followed in 1992 by the Société des Caves, producers of Roquefort and their US subsidiary Sorrento, turned the Besnier Group into the top European dairy company.

In 1993, one billion Président Camemberts were produced.

During the same period, investments in "protected designations of origin" again gave the Group top spot in the sector in France.

During recent years, the Group's developments have mainly taken place abroad, in Poland, the Ukraine and Italy. The latest acquisitions were the American companies Simplot Dairy and Concord Marketing in 1999.

In 1999 the Group changed its name to Lactalis Group, to reflect its international growth.

At the end of 1999, Mr. Michel Besnier opened the André Besnier Lactopole, a technological centre that retraces the dairy industry's evolution over the last 60 years.