Leerdammer Kaas officially celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. In 1974, this cross between Gouda and Emmentaler cheese was introduced to the market by Baars Kaas. The cheese was developed at NIZO in Ede, which is now an independent food company. Baars immediately set to work on turning it into a real brand cheese, and with success. Leerdammer Kaas grew into one of the largest cheese brands in Europe. At the height of its success, the brand was estimated to be worth several hundred million euros, far more than anything else the dairy processor owned.
Leerdammer was introduced to the market in 1974 by Baars Kaas from a cross between Gouda and Emmental cheese. The new cheese was developed at NIZO in Ede, which is now an independent food company. Baars immediately set to work turning it into a real brand cheese, and with great success.
However, current owner Lactalis is celebrating the anniversary somewhat privately, mainly for the suppliers and staff. Not really for the outside world around it. A request from Boerenbusiness to also pay attention to the half-centenary celebration, also remained unanswered. Perhaps not entirely surprising, because Lactalis does not like publicity and there is not really a party atmosphere between Lactalis and the suppliers. The exodus of farmers, which started under the previous owner, continues. Today, a lot of extra milk has to be purchased to keep the factories occupied.
Envy and jealousy
For years, the major Dutch dairy companies viewed the success of the Leerdammer brand with a combination of envy and jealousy. There were also plans to buy it a number of times, but the large cooperatives balked at the rapidly rising price of the brand.
A lot of money has also been invested in the development of the cheese brand. Cheese trader Cees Baars soon sought support from food group Wessanen, which took over the brand and cheese factory De Vijfherenlanden in 1976. In 1982 it also bought the cheese factory in Dalfsen, where Leerdammer cheeses were also produced. Wessanen also had other dairies, including in Kampen, but they did not make cheese.
It is not known exactly how Leerdammer got its name. In any case, the cheese factory in Leerdam had nothing to do with it, because it belonged to Campina. But Leerdammer sounds better than Schoonrewoerder, after the place where the De Vijfheerenlanden dairy factory is located and Leerdam has a wider reputation due to, among other things, the glass.
The Leerdammer brand developed well under the wings of Wessanen, but around the turn of the century, the listed Wessanen got bogged down in a discussion about its share price and wanted to get rid of the dairy division. Ultimately, it was sold to the French Fromageries Bel for €2001 million in 190. They further developed the brand, including new flavor variants. They also introduced the cheese to new markets. Sales of cheese under the Leerdammer brand increased steadily until 2013, to around 53.000 tons. Then a decline started. It is not known what is currently sold under the brand. In addition to the branded cheese, Leerdammer has also always made cheese for commercial sales, roughly 20.000 tons per year. Total cheese production in the factories in Schoonrewoerd and Dalfsen peaked at just under 80.000 tons.
By then the mood among suppliers had already deteriorated somewhat. For years these suppliers had received a competitive milk price, but already around 2007/2008 there were clashes between this group and management. The Leerdammer suppliers have traditionally been deliberately non-cooperative and assertive, traditionally also small-scale, with group stables, although there are not many of them anymore. They are mainly located in South Holland, the Gelderse Vallei, the Betuwe, along the IJssel and in Overijssel.
Conflict over milk price
Between 2010 and 2015, new conflict arose, because many farmers felt that the French owner was not honoring agreements made about linking their milk price to that of Cono, and the French also felt that they were not being heard. It led to lawsuits. In a number of cases, Groupe Bel, as the parent company was now known, was found in the wrong and had to repair the milk money. However, the mood did not improve because Bel did not change her behavior in the eyes of the suppliers. More lawsuits followed, in 2017 a farmers' collective was founded, the Suppliers Association Leerdammer Collective (LVLC), and an increasing number of suppliers started running. When Groupe Bel sold its Dutch branch, together with a few other companies, to competitor Lactalis, there was a brief hope that things would calm down, but the exodus of suppliers did not stop.
Around 2015/2016, at its peak, Leerdammer had around 800 million kilos of milk, of which it could process approximately 750 to 770 million kilos. There were about 1100 suppliers at the time. Those figures are now a lot lower. Precise information is not available, but according to estimates from involved outsiders, around 200 to 250 million kilos of milk have now disappeared, while the number of suppliers is also significantly lower, due to both closure and switching to other processors. Leerdammer suppliers are also not always the farms with the best prospects for survival. There are quite a few smaller companies, sometimes stable milkers. Current CEO Jan Verbessem indicated at the end of last year that he was looking for new suppliers. The question is how successful this search is, since Leerdammer is certainly not the only processor that dairy farmers can turn to.