On September 25, 2026, the French Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) published a criminal settlement of EUR 90,000 accepted by SAS Briois, a butter packer in Liévin (Pas-de-Calais), for marketing blended European Union butter under the regional brand "Ma Région" and a "beurrerie" claim without stating its true origin. The communiqué cites 5th-class contraventions under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers.
Butter packers, dairy brands, supermarket private-label lines and importers selling blended EU butter in France under a regional brand, a "beurrerie" claim or a local address must immediately review their labels and disclose the real origin of the blend, or face the same 5th-class contravention and a published criminal settlement under Regulation (EU) 1169/2011.
- Authority : DGCCRF, inquiry by the DDPP du Pas-de-Calais
- Entity : SAS Briois, Liévin (Pas-de-Calais)
- Measure and amount : criminal settlement (transaction pénale) of EUR 90,000
- Legal basis : Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, 5th-class contravention
- Decision date : September 25, 2026
- Official source : DGCCRF communiqué
What happened
Agents of the DDPP du Pas-de-Calais investigated the butter labelling practices of SAS Briois. Briois trades as a "beurrerie" that blends and kneads butters, and sold under the brand "Ma Région" a butter made from a mixture of butters of European Union origin. The brand name on the pack, combined with no origin indication, suggested the butter was made locally from regional ingredients and gave it a higher perceived value.
The procureur de la République near the tribunal judiciaire de Béthune proposed a criminal transaction of EUR 90,000 together with the public communiqué, which SAS Briois accepted.
The breach
The communiqué characterizes the facts as 5th-class contraventions under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. It states that "la présence du nom de la marque sur l'emballage combiné à l'absence de mention de cette origine sur l'étiquetage induit en erreur le consommateur sur l'origine réelle du beurre", the brand name on the packaging combined with the absence of any origin mention misleading the consumer about the real origin of the butter.
By exploiting communication about the regional origin, the labelling conferred a higher perceived value and unduly influenced the consumer's choice. The full text of the regulation is on EUR-Lex.
Who else is in the same regime
The regime reaches every operator that places butter on the French market using origin-evoking branding while the product is a blend of EU butters: French butter packers selling blended EU butter under a regional brand name, dairy brands using place-evoking names or "beurrerie" claims, supermarket private-label butter lines that suggest a local origin, and importers of EU-origin butter blends packed with origin-suggestive cues. SAS Briois is the sanctioned context, not the audience; the same labelling pattern, anywhere in that chain, draws the same provision.
What to check now
- Review every butter label sold in France that carries a regional brand name, a "beurrerie" claim or a local address for an explicit origin indication.
- Where the butter is a blend of EU-origin butters, ensure the real origin is stated on the label, not implied by the brand name alone.
- Verify that a place-evoking brand such as "Ma Région" is not combined with the absence of origin mention on a blended butter.
- Check that "beurrerie" and malaxage claims do not imply local production when the butters are EU blends.
- Confirm private-label and imported butter lines carry the origin particulars required under Regulation (EU) 1169/2011.
- Brief the labelling and marketing teams on the DGCCRF enforcement position before the next pack redesign.
Continuous per-jurisdiction real-time monitoring surfaces this kind of DGCCRF enforcement the moment the communiqué is published.
