About us
Our history
This timeline summarizes the most important phases and dates in the over 100 years of our Cooperative’s history.
At the end of the 19th century, agriculture was based on cereals and wine growing in the regions of Alt Urgell and Cerdanya, while animals were mainly considered useful for work power alone. When the phylloxera plague destroyed the grapevines at the end of the century, however, the farming and cattle-raising model of the times had to be reconsidered. Milk cows were introduced for dairy farming and the countryside became devoted to the cultivation of cereals and of forage for the cattle.
Josep Zulueta i Gomis, a lawyer from Barcelona who was linked to the area and a man of progressive spirit, won the confidence of the cattle-raising families, organizing a cooperative model in 1915 for the production of milk and its conversion into butter and cheeses.
1915
· Founding of the Societat Cooperativa Cadí, the first dairy cooperative company in Catalonia.
· Launch of Cadí Butter, the Cooperative's first product.
The consumption of cow's milk and derivative dairy products such as butter and cheese gradually came to form part of people's eating habits, first in the urban areas and subsequently, little by little, in the more rural areas.
During this period, collective milk transport began. A truck collected the milk cans of each partner and carried them to the production plant. The Cooperative wanted the dairy farmers to concentrate on the hygiene and cleanliness of their farms in order to ensure high standards of quality for their milk.
The constant growth of the Cooperative, which now comprised 150 partners and transformed 1,500 litres of milk, led to conflicts amongst the farmers because some wanted to commercialize part of their production outside of the Cooperative's framework.
In the 1930s, the management team formed by Bonaventura Rebés and Domènec Moliné went about introducing improvements in the quality of production. With the start-up of the pasteurization of our milk, the managers' spirit of excellence led them to hire an expert Dutch cheesemaker, orienting the Cooperative's cheese production towards mild creamy cheeses of the type made in his homeland.
Tractors, automatic milking systems and sprinkler irrigation were some of the innovations that increased agricultural production. Together with all this, some production processes were also automated and the production facilities were expanded.
The Cooperative kept striving to build a good image of the Cadí products, as was clearly shown by the various commercialization activities that were carried out.
At the end of the 1980s and during the 1990s, improvements were carried out in the production of our cheeses, innovations were made to minimize our environmental impact, and our management, storage and stock control processes became computerized.
Our products received their first international distinction in the 2000s with the two Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) of Alt Urgell and Cerdanya.
2000
· Registration in the EU of the Protected Designation of Origin (Cheese from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya).
2003
· Registration in the EU of the Protected Designation of Origin (Butter from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya).
The centenary of the Cooperative was celebrated in 2015. During these 100 years, Cadí cheeses and butter have come to be recognized by consumers as top-quality products in the market. Cadí products are to be found in the majority of the points of sale of foods in Catalonia and in some parts of Spain at large (the Valencia area and the Central area) as well as in various countries elsewhere in Europe and in the United States.
Technology has led to many changes in the management of our Cadí Farms, in our production facilities and in our relations with customers and consumers.
2015
· Launch of the new cheese “Neu del Cadí”.
· Celebration of the Cooperative's Centenary.
We are presenting a new corporate identity under the theme “We bring live to our land". In this new stage of the Cooperative, we highlight the positive impact of our activity on our area.
We wish to convey a hopeful optimistic outlook to our rural world. The fact is that, by consuming Cadí butter and cheeses, by enjoying products sourced and produced in our area, we bring life to our land.