Lee Strand Cooperative Creamery Ltd

About the company

Lee Strand is a dairy cooperative society owned by its farmer shareholders and employs over 100 people across various business units. Lee Strand's main activity is processing and distributing liquid milk in the Kerry, West Limerick and North Cork regions. Established over 100 years ago in the year 1920, the co-op operated its creamery and production operations in the heart of Tralee, County Kerry.

In 1992, Lee Strand relocated to its new custom-designed production premises on a 10-acre site at Ballymullen in Tralee. In 2019, Lee Strand made a significant manufacturing investment of €2 million to launch the Tetra Rex® Bio-based carton. The revolutionary carton and cap are 100% renewable, 100% recyclable, and is made from materials that can be traced back to a plant-based source.

Key Sustainability Commitments

Spotlight Target Area: Supplier Certification / Waste

As an organisation, Lee Strand firmly believes in operating sustainably, with the company being registered to ISO 14001 since 1998, EMAS since 2000 and in 2016, Lee Strand submitted its first Origin Green sustainability plan. As milk is Lee Strand's primary raw material, it is critical that its farmer suppliers operate responsibly and produce milk in accordance with recognised and independently verified sustainable criteria. Lee Stand's strategy has been to proactively encourage and support its suppliers to engage in sustainable farming projects. This strategy has generated a culture of sustainability awareness among its farmer suppliers, as well as a communication and cooperation pipeline. Since January 2019, the company has acquired 100% of its milk from farms certified under the Bord Bia Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme (SDAS). SDAS certifies that milk is produced in a sustainable manner through an ISO 17065 accredited scheme.