La Laiterie du Berger

What La Laiterie du Berger does

La Laiterie du Berger is a Senegalese for-profit dairy company that operates a vertically integrated local-milk value chain in and around Dakar. The company procures fresh milk directly from pastoralist herder families in rural Senegal — rather than relying on imported powdered milk — and processes it into finished dairy products marketed under its flagship brand Dolima. Procurement is paired with veterinary services and farmer training, making the herders effectively a captive supply base while also delivering a documented social impact, particularly to women in pastoralist households.

The business model combines B2C dairy product sales (the primary revenue mechanic) with a development-impact funding structure on the supply side. The company is backed by impact-oriented capital — most notably the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO, two rounds in 2017 and 2019), EDFI ElectriFI (2020), and earlier support from Investisseurs & Partenaires — and is featured as a portfolio company of Danone Communities, the impact investment fund of global dairy major Danone. Total disclosed funding across 2017-2020 is approximately $3.9 million, and the firm has 101-250 employees, indicating mid-sized regional operations rather than a commodity-scale processor. The company achieved Certified B Corporation status in 2020, reinforcing its social-business positioning.

Strategic intent, as expressed through partner selection and capital deployment, is to scale a replicable model that displaces imported powdered milk in the Senegalese market while lifting pastoralist incomes. Constraints include thin disclosure on revenue, pricing, and distribution channels, and competition from low-cost imported dairy alternatives in West African retail.

Name

La Laiterie du Berger

Legal name

La Laiterie du Berger

Website

https://danonecommunities.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

La Laiterie du Berger is a Senegalese dairy company that procures fresh milk directly from pastoralist herder families and processes it into branded dairy products such as Dolima, supplying Senegalese consumers while supporting rural herder communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Dairy Products

NAICS

Dairy Product (except Frozen) Manufacturing (31151)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020)

akta.pro primary industry

Yogurt & Cultured Dairy (Yogurt, Kefir, Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese) (CRADACAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Organic & Specialty-Claim Fluid Milk Processing (Organic, A2, Grass-Fed) (AFAHAAAH)

Keywords

• Dairy products
• Yogurt manufacturing
• Fresh milk processing
• Local dairy sourcing
• African dairy brand

Headquarters

HQ city

Dakar

HQ country

Senegal

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Core offering

La Laiterie du Berger is a Senegalese dairy company that processes and sells dairy products, most notably its Dolima brand of yogurt and other milk-based products. The company sources fresh milk from local pastoralist herder families in northern Senegal, providing them with veterinary support, training, and a reliable market for their milk. It manufactures, packages, and distributes finished dairy products (primarily yogurt, thiacry, and fresh milk) to Senegalese consumers through retail outlets and distribution networks.

Product overview

La Laiterie du Berger is a dairy company that operates as a unified product business, producing dairy products such as Dolima. The company purchases raw milk directly from pastoralist herder families and transforms it into finished dairy products, creating economic opportunities for rural communities in Senegal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dolima: Dairy product brand produced by La Laiterie du Berger

Products and services

• Dolima (yogurt and dairy range) Branded line of processed dairy products (yogurt, flavored milk, and related items) manufactured by La Laiterie du Berger and sold to Senegalese consumers via retail distribution. The Dolima brand is positioned as an affordable, locally produced alternative to imported dairy.
• Fresh pasteurized milk Pasteurized fresh milk produced from locally sourced raw milk collected from pastoralist herders, processed at the company's facility and distributed to consumers and retailers.
• Thiacry and traditional dairy products Traditional Senegalese dairy preparations produced by La Laiterie du Berger, serving consumers seeking culturally familiar dairy options.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Laiterie de Tiviski: Mauritania-based dairy processor that buys fresh camel milk from nomadic herders and produces branded pasteurized camel-milk products. Operates a nearly identical pastoralist-to-processor social business model in the Sahel, making it the closest conceptual peer to La Laiterie du Berger.
• Fan Milk: Ghana-headquartered dairy and frozen-dairy processor with strong distribution across West Africa. Competes for the same urban consumer dairy spend that LDB targets with its Dolima brand and similar yogurt/cultured dairy SKUs.

Broad incumbents

• Danone: Global dairy and plant-based major and parent of Danone Communities, which backs LDB. Operates broadly across fluid milk, yogurt, and infant nutrition in West Africa and is both an indirect capability source and a long-run competitive constraint for LDB.
• Nestlé West Africa: Multinational food and beverage incumbent with significant dairy and nutrition presence across West Africa. Defines shelf prices, retailer relationships, and powdered-milk import economics that any local processor — including LDB — must compete against.
• Brookside Dairy: East Africa's largest dairy processor, operating a hub-and-spoke fresh-milk collection model analogous to LDB's pastoralist sourcing. Comparable on supply-chain integration, branded dairy products, and emerging-market scale dynamics, though geographically distinct.
• Pearl Dairy Farms: Uganda-based dairy processor producing UHT milk, butter, and milk powder for regional African and export markets. Comparable to LDB in operating an emerging-market African dairy business scaling from a local sourcing base to branded dairy products.
• Lactalis: World's largest dairy company with growing African footprint via acquisitions in West and East Africa. Sets competitive intensity in branded cheese, butter, and fluid dairy that ultimately affect pricing power for African processors like LDB.
• Arla Foods: Global dairy cooperative with growing West African distribution, particularly in branded milk and yogurt categories. Represents the kind of multinational competition LDB must differentiate against on local sourcing and social-impact positioning.

Regional players

• Promised Land: Reported West African flavored dairy drink that competes in similar consumption occasions to LDB's Dolima. Comparable in product positioning (local-flavored dairy beverage) and target consumer (West African urban households).
• Sameer Agriculture and Livestock: East African dairy operator (associated with Sameer Group / dairy processing brands) running integrated milk collection, processing and branded dairy products. Conceptually similar to LDB's vertical model, though focused on East Africa rather than the Sahel.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/laiterieduberger

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about La Laiterie du Berger