About St. Clemens

1882

In the mid-19th century, a visionary farmer from Funen presented for the first time the idea of establishing cooperative dairies — the notion that everything should be shared, from losses and profits to equipment. He was almost laughed out of a farmers’ meeting, and several people even believed he ought to be examined for insanity. Yet in 1882, the vision became reality when Hjedding Cooperative Dairy near Ølgod was founded as the first of its kind in Denmark.

1886

Four years after the first cooperative dairy saw the light of day in Ølgod, the concept was ready to be introduced on Bornholm. Here, the merchant L. Kofoed was elected chairman, and together with the rest of the board he was tasked with making it a success. Things moved fairly quickly, even though they were by no means easy. Several farmers were on the brink of abandoning the project because they could not agree on the location. Eventually, they reached an agreement on a site near Østerlars, where there was easy access to water and to wastewater disposal. There, they bought a plot of two “skæpper” of land (about 1,400 m²) for 300 kroner. 

1887

A great deal was learned from the process surrounding the first cooperative dairy. As a result, more of them followed in quick succession in the years that followed. In 1887, cooperative dairies were established in Broholm, Bodilsker, Gadeby, Hammersdal, Lobbæk, Nykær, and Vanddam. In 1888, Brodal, Humledal, Pedersker, and Bjørnedal were launched, and the following year Godthåb and Svalhøj joined them, covering Bornholm with cooperative dairies.

1900

The year 1900 marked a groundbreaking period. Not only did we enter a new century — the influence among the cooperative members also changed. In the early years of the dairies, it was quite common for voting rights to be based on how many cows one owned. This was changed to a more solidaristic system, in which each member was given one vote.

1920

The Dairy Association was not very old when it took the initiative to establish insurance against operational losses caused by, for example, foot-and-mouth disease. At first, there was no interest in it, as the disease did not exist on Bornholm. However, that changed in 1920 when the disease became a reality on the island — and the insurance association became a reality as well.

1934

A significant chapter in the history of the Bornholm Dairy Association was when the island succeeded in eradicating bovine tuberculosis in 1934, becoming the first large geographical area to do so. The rest of Denmark was not declared free of the disease until 1952.

1935

From the beginning of the cooperative dairies up until the outbreak of the Second World War, the Bornholm dairies underwent remarkable development. Dybdal Cooperative Dairy, which was the first and largest cooperative dairy on Bornholm, received 4,040,723 pounds of milk in 1893. By 1935, that figure had grown to 17,444 pounds.

1936

Looking once again at Dybdal Cooperative Dairy, one sees that in the beginning there were 64 members with 465 cows. At the 50th anniversary in 1936, there were 343 members with 2,705 cows.

1950

There were now many small cooperative dairies spread across the island. Twelve of them chose to join forces to create Denmark’s first Cooperative Cheese Dairy. It was built in Klemensker at a cost of 50 øre per square meter — the total price reached 950,000 kroner, of which 750,000 went toward machinery. On 31 January 1950, chairman C. Christensen from Ryttergård opened the valve, allowing the milk to flow in. During the first years, only Danablu was produced, but in 1955 the range was expanded to include hard cheeses.

1963

Here, they transitioned from delivering drinking milk in glass bottles to what we today know as milk cartons.

1978

In 1978, the dairy’s two steel churns were replaced by an ultra-modern butter machine capable of producing 2,000 kg of butter per hour. Completely unimaginable — and it was only at the Bornholm Cooperative Dairy that such a thing was possible.

1980

We have always known about the high quality of our products, but in 1980 the rest of the world also took notice of the little dairy in the North Sea. That year, we won our first world championship with our popular Danablu in Wisconsin, USA.

1980

Sct. Clemens was established as an independent export company. Previously, the dairy had used external exporters, but now it wanted to handle foreign sales itself. This provided better insight into customer needs and made it possible to develop the business in close dialogue with the market. The export division became an important part of the dairy’s future strategy.

1981

Bornholm Cooperative Dairy acquired its own wind turbine.

1994

Per was hired at the dairy in 1994 and in 1997 took over the position of director from his father, Leif, who had led the company since the merger in 1970. At that time, 123 cooperative members were affiliated with the dairy — today there are only 15. This testifies to an industry in transition and a company that has managed to adapt over time.

1998

Krølle Bølle, the well-known ice cream and character created by the artist Ole Mahler, was originally developed at Bornholm Cooperative Dairy. With its quirky expression and strong local roots, it became a hugely successful brand that spread to Funen, Norway, and other places. But in 1998 the dairy chose to sell the rights, as the product no longer fit the company’s core business or strategy.

1998

At the same time, 1998 marked a technological and capacity-wise quantum leap for the dairy. A completely new cheese dairy was built, and investments were made in modern equipment that nearly doubled production — from around 3,000 to 5,500 tons of cheese per year. As the crowning achievement, Bornholm Cooperative Dairy was in the same year named the overall winner at the World Cheese Championship, cementing the company’s international recognition.

2004

The dairy took responsibility for the environment and built a modern treatment plant capable of handling all process wastewater from production. Previously, the wastewater had been used as fertilizer on the fields, but now it was treated internally — an important milestone in the work toward sustainability and environmental responsibility.

2015

With the acquisition of a new whey machine, the dairy was now able to extract valuable proteins from the whey. The product, WPC 80 (Whey Protein Concentrate), was used in, among other things, protein bars. The lactose remaining in the whey continues to be sent as feed for pigs — an efficient and responsible use of by-products.

2023

New apartments were built for the dairy’s employees — especially with foreign workers in mind, as they often have difficulty finding housing on Bornholm. The residences are reserved for staff and are yet another example of the dairy’s focus on well-being and responsibility toward its employees.