Completely affected by a change in the economic model that continues to redefine its rules, the dairy segment reaches a level of operational impact in December that keeps players in this niche on tenterhooks. Although there are nuances and differences, the truth is that the Decline in marketing, coupled with difficulties in finding local and external financing, and the increase in labor and production costs in generalbecame the final nail in the drawer for several companies in the industry. Production shutdowns, labor disputes, increased debt and loss of concessionsare some of the dramas that rocked the segment throughout the year. With Blue Light as the latest exampleApart from the cases of Lácteos Verónica, SanCor, La Suipachense and ARSA, to name a few other companies, the dairy is in a critical phase and the company fears that the negative results that the company has achieved will continue well into 2026.
Blue light: Investors abandon franchises
The best example of the dire moment in which the dairy sector is suffering is the statement of Gabriela Benac, owner of Luz Azul, who noted in the last hours a loss of sales, efforts to take over its franchisees and deliveries of goods to staff.
“The situation in the dairy industry is complex; there is overproduction of milk worldwide and in particular in Argentina, where there is overstocking and many types of cheese. Due to a supply issue, prices remain stable,” explained the managing director.
“We are taking over more and more franchise branches in order not to lose market presence and not to close stores,” he added.
Today, Luz Azul has a network of 70 points of sale, around 57 of which correspond precisely to the brand’s franchises.
“The franchisees first declare that they cannot pay for the goods and if we see that they are incurring debts, we talk to them to buy the premises from them and recover at least the initial investment,” he explained.
Benac stressed that, given the current context, the consumer public is paying attention to prices and that dairy companies simply need not to increase values to somehow avoid a major decline in sales. Of course, this comes in return for the loss of commercial viability, he clarified.
“With cream cheese we lose between 5 and 6 percent. “Three months ago we had increased it, but we had to reduce it by 20 percent because there are offers everywhere and we have to keep what we have,” he explained in radio statements.
As has been hinted at for some time, Luz Azul began to deliver goods and other “pluses”. in order to somehow cushion the loss of purchasing power, which also affects the staff.
Verónica Dairy suffered in 2025
A compelling example of the inconvenience suffered by dairy farmers is the current financial difficulties of Lácteos Verónica. The company reaches this point of the year with an open question about what its operations will look like starting in 2026.
The financial reality is extremely worrying: the company has written thousands of bad checks in 2025 and owes its suppliers millions.
Debtor base accessed according to the Central Bank (BCRA). iProfessionalVeronica Dairy collects nearly 3,700 rejected checks due to lack of funds.
Last year, the company only covered 689 of these documents, or 18.6% of the documents issued. According to the BCRA, the Santa Fe company is accumulating debts for bounced checks 13,231 million pesos.
As this medium has explained in other articles, the lack of inputs due to the debts it maintains with suppliers is making it difficult for Lácteos Verónica to recover, which today relies on the production of “Fazón”, i.e. for third parties, in two of its plants (Lehmann and Suardi), although it is unable to reactivate milk production in its plants in Clason.
It is precisely at this productive point that the crisis that the dairy is going through is still evident: in Clason, Lácteos Verónica It barely manages to process 20,000 liters of milk every two days. According to recent reports, this flow allows you to specify a packing hour.
In the same factory, the production of cheese, sweets and butter continues to be completely stopped, which explains why Lácteos Verónica is still not found on most supermarket shelves and refrigerators.
SanCor, inundated with bankruptcy filings
For its part, SanCor is still facing permanent closure. In the event of bankruptcy, the company alone would owe more than $20,000 million in unpaid salaries, social security and union insurance. And as you recognize with regard to the merger of cooperatives, adds more than 300 bankruptcy filings against him.
In this sense, Guillermo Vales, the judge in charge of the dairy’s bankruptcy, has just asked the company’s creditors to present reactivation plans for SanCor, an action considered unprecedented for this economic sector.
In the last few days, the company’s management has submitted a crisis plan to the court, the most prominent aspect of which is the reduction of 304 jobs as a fundamental measure to improve the balance sheet.
In the last two years, SanCor carried out 370 layoffs However, beyond the content of the measure, the dairy was unable to reduce its operational and financial losses.
“Currently there are just over 300 bankruptcy filings and now the company has been notified, which must respond and defend itself against these bankruptcy filings,” explained recently Aldo Regali, head of the law firm that serves a large number of SanCor employees.
The company barely survives on conventional contracts, i.e. production for third parties, which it still has with companies such as B. entertains Elcor, Punta del Agua and La Tarantela.
The bankruptcy of La Suipachense
In line with the above is the case of The Suipachense It seems to be one of the most dramatic in the crisis that the dairy is going through.
At the beginning of last month, Mercedes’ Civil and Commercial Court No. 7 ruled declared the bankruptcy of Lácteos Conosur SA, the corporate name of the traditional dairy company. The company had just gone through a violent union conflict and 140 employees at its factory in the city of Suipacha in Buenos Aires were unemployed.
The court order stated that “the disqualification of the failed company is final” and ordered the general freezing of the company’s assets.
At the same time it was determined Disqualification of Venezuelan businessman Jorge Luis Borges Leónresponsible for the administration of the company, “which ends by operation of law one year after the insolvency decision, unless one of the cases of reduction or extension provided for in the Insolvency Act occurs.”
He was also forced to obtain “express judicial approval” to leave the country. The court decision also included, among other things, the “closure of the facility” of Suipacha with “the confiscation of books and documents found on site.” The intervening judge also forced Borges León to “immediately hand over to the bankruptcy administration the keys to the facility and the digital access codes.”
The closure of La Suipachense came after tensions that increased throughout the year: triggered by the possibility of mass layoffs of its employees In total, they spent more than 60 days on the company’s premises. In recent months, the company has processed virtually no milk and its plant was one step away from being left without electricity or gas due to lack of pay.
ARSA, another company that has pulled down the blinds
Finally, it is necessary to refer to a case which, although complicated for several years, ended in the worst possible way. Finally at the beginning of November Productos Refrigerados SA (ARSA) has been declared bankruptthe company that has been responsible for the production of yogurts and desserts under the SanCor brand since 2019
A court order ordered the formal closure of a crisis that had paralyzed activity for months at the industrial plant in Sunchales, Santa Fe, where more than 400 people worked.
The employees had kept the business running smoothly for months despite a lack of employer contributions and outstanding salaries. Many of them are still unpaid and do not receive any official information about their future employment or a possible recovery of business operations.
The ATILRA union had unsuccessfully called for jobs to be saved and the investors who took control of the company to be held accountable.
In addition to the debt that most dairy companies have, the current situation in the dairy sector actually combines factors that seriously endanger the continued existence of many companies.
In this sense, the oversupply of raw milk, the quantities of which are growing from week to week and are approaching seasonal peaks, coincides with a weak domestic marketwhich remains the main sales channel for most small and medium-sized companies in the segment.
Final prices also show declines of 5 to 10%, which can be attributed to lower consumption and the ongoing loss of purchasing power. The negative table is completed with Exports that are increasingly restricted.
As iProfesional recently explainedthe current exchange rate and loss of external competitiveness limit the placement of surpluses on the international market, so many companies accumulate production and have no profitable commercial alternatives.
About The Author
