At the heart of Normandy, our milk producers benefit from unique pasture land : the Isigny terroir.
Located in the Baie des Veys between land and sea, our Isigny Sainte-Mère Cooperative benefits from a remarkable terroir. Situated in the Bessin and Cotentin Marshes Regional Nature Park, this wetland with a mild climate enjoys favourable climate conditions for milk production. This particularly lush landscape of pasture and hedgerows is enhanced by the salt spray from the open sea and the freshwater from the marshes. This area, made up of lowlands and floodplains, is covered with water in winter, which then retreats in spring, giving way to abundant grass.
It is at this precise moment, once the weather conditions allow for it, that our cows go back out into the open air to enjoy this unique pasture. They graze for a minimum of 7 months depending on the weather conditions.
The distinctive characteristics and specific qualities of the Isigny terroir were reaffirmed in 1982 with the creation of a new protected designation of origin status, Beurre and Crème d’Isigny. Its specifications outline a precise area of pasture, included within a perimeter of 175 communes around the Cooperative.
Find out more about the Bessin and Cotentin Marshes Regional Nature Park
This protected ecosystem and unique natural heritage offer our producers’ cows high-quality pastures, leading to the production of milk that is particularly high in fat, trace elements and nutrients.
milk producers
on 430 Isigny farms
hours
maximum for the fresh milk to be collected
kilometres
collection area around the Cooperative: local milk
months
minimum of grazing per year when weather conditions allow
The milk from our producers is collected every 48 hours within a 50-km radius of the Cooperative in order to be transported there directly. This proximity ensures a short distribution channel of 72 hours from collecting the milk at the farm to packing the powder into its final packaging in order to ensure optimal freshness, shelf life and nutritional value.
Once delivered, the milk is checked at every stage of manufacture, and acceptance tests are performed upon arrival of the raw materials and prior to dispatching products.
Since January 2000, all of our milk producers have Agri Confiance ® certification. This quality process ensures traceability upstream of the production site as a result of certification for farms.
This certification, which supplements the ISO 9001 standard, helps ensure safety and total traceability, by taking into account the herd’s feed, farm hygiene, animal welfare, the environment and milk collection.
The Agri Confiance ® standard is based on a number of key principles:
It makes us really proud that our milk allows babies to be fed all over the world. Knowing that our milk will be consumed across France and throughout the world is still remarkable. We are passionate about providing high-quality healthy milk so that the Cooperative can produce good products.