Source : CONO Cheesemakers (CONO Kaasmakers)

The sustainable dairy farming programme Caring Dairy was initiated by Unilever’s ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s in 2003, and is currently a partnership between Ben & Jerry’s and the makers of Beemster cheese Cono. The programme involves over 500 farmers, is based on continuous improvement along 11 sustainability themes or indicators: soil health, soil loss, nutrients, pest management, biodiversity, energy, water, farmj economics, social human capital, local economy and animal welfare. Each participating farmer measures his performance in these areas and participates in three workshops annually on themes of their choice, resulting into individual improvement plans, which are monitored, measuredf and adapted were necessay in the next years.

The Caring Dairy logo is carried on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Beemster cheese pack.

All Ben&Jerry’s ice cream in Europe is climate neutral.

Ben&Jerry’s follows a three step process applicable to the entire life cycle:

• Using as little resources as possible, for example improving efficiency, applying new technology
• Use as much renewable resources as possible and
• Compensate the remaining climate impact, as calculated in CO2 equivalents by investing in gold standard clean energy programme.

The Caring Dairy program deals with steps 1 and 2 for the dairy production part of the supply chain.