Ownership profile
Who owns Stonyfield Farm?
Stonyfield Farm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Groupe Lactalis, a privately held French dairy giant owned 100% by the Besnier family — not by any private equity firm.
Ownership profile
Stonyfield Farm
Lactalis US Yogurt, Inc. d/b/a Stonyfield Farm, Inc.
Evidence (12)
Lactalis's own website confirms the group is chaired and coordinated by Emmanuel Besnier, grandson of the company's founder, consistent with a family-owned governance structure
https://www.lactalis.com/en/our-structureStonyfield Farm's Terms of Use DMCA email domain 'LUSY-DMCAAGENT@us.lactalis.com' directly links the operating entity to Lactalis USA, confirming Lactalis as the current corporate owner
https://www.stonyfield.com/terms-use/The legal operating entity is 'Lactalis US Yogurt, Inc. d/b/a Stonyfield Farm, Inc.', registered as a Certified B Corporation
https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/stonyfield-farm/Groupe Lactalis is a private company owned 100% by the Besnier family; it is not publicly traded and has no private equity ownership
https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/34/Groupe-Lactalis.htmlIn July 2017, Danone agreed to sell Stonyfield to Lactalis for $875 million; the sale was completed and Stonyfield became entirely owned by Lactalis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonyfield_FarmDanone's official press release confirmed a binding agreement to sell Stonyfield to Lactalis for $875 million at 20x 2016 EBITDA, as part of a DOJ antitrust settlement tied to Danone's WhiteWave acquisition
https://www.danone.com/content/dam/corp/global/danonecom/investors/en-all-publications/2017/pressreleases/2017-07-03-Stonyfield-Sale.pdfCNBC confirmed that Stonyfield was acquired by Lactalis from Danone in 2017 for $875 million
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/03/frances-danone-to-sell-stonyfield-to-lactalis-for-875-million.htmlWikipedia states that Stonyfield Farm is owned by the largest dairy company in the world, the French group Lactalis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonyfield_FarmWikipedia's Lactalis article lists Stonyfield Farm among brands owned by Groupe Lactalis S.A.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LactalisLactalis North America's CEO confirmed Stonyfield as a Lactalis brand in a 2019 press statement about a further U.S. acquisition
https://vermontbiz.com/news/2019/july/08/french-owner-stonyfield-buys-brattleboro-yogurt-makerFortune described Lactalis as a 'family-owned French dairy' at the time of the Stonyfield acquisition announcement
https://fortune.com/2017/07/05/danone-sells-stonyfield-lactalis/An IUF report notes 'there is no evidence at any stage of a serious desire on the part of Lactalis to go public' and that 'the family-owned structure has continued remarkably successfully through three generations of family leadership'
https://www.iuf.org/wp-content/uploads/attachments/The%20Lactalis%20Group-e.pdfWhat's uncertain
- The IUF Lactalis ownership report is undated but pre-2020; family ownership of Lactalis has been consistently confirmed across multiple independent sources up to 2026.
- No SEC EDGAR filings exist for Lactalis or Lactalis US Yogurt, Inc. as neither is a U.S. public company; state registry confirmation of 'Lactalis US Yogurt, Inc.' was not independently checked but is corroborated by the B Corp registry and the Terms of Use.
- Stonyfield was previously owned by Danone (2001–2017) and before that was privately held by founders; the current Lactalis ownership has been in place since Q3 2017.
- Lactalis's internal corporate structure (intermediate holdcos between Groupe Lactalis and Lactalis US Yogurt, Inc.) is not publicly disclosed due to the group's well-documented opacity.