The origin of Okręgowa Spółdzielnia Mleczarska in Kalisz - OSM Kalisz (the Regional Dairy Cooperative in Kalisz) dates back to the late 19th century and is associated with the beginning of the cooperative movement in Poland. In the Kalisz area the initiator of this movement was the Rev. Wacław Bliziński.

The Cooperative survived all the subsequent economic and political transformations and was registered as an independent economic entity with its current organizational form in 1981.

The original dairy production plants located in Lisków and Kalisz were not able to deal with the increasing supply of milk, the changing preferences of the consumer and the changing technological requirements. Consequently the management of the Cooperative initiated the construction of a new, town-type processing plant in the 1970s. This plant, covering the area of 5.5 ha, was opened in 1978. It includes the production plant, warehouses, automobile workshops and the management building. In the late 1990s a chemical sewage treatment plant was added to the dairy to ensure environment safety.

In April 2002 the Cooperative took over the Koźmin Dairy Cooperative (in Koźmin) thus increasing its raw materials and processing base. Both the milk suppliers and the majority of employees are members of the Cooperative. Our major activities are:

• milk purchase,
• milk processing,
• dairy products sale,
• raw milk transportation to the point of purchase.

Milk is purchased from the members of the Cooperative, which creates a milk market and development possibilities for farmers aiming to reach the standards set out in European Union directives. This in turn will make them fully competitive in the open European market in the future.
The major objective of the Cooperative is to satisfy the requirements and everyday needs of all Polish families so that every single consumer is positively certain of the rightness of his or her choice when buying OSM Kalisz dairy products.

To maintain the position of a leading dairy producer in Poland we cherish the following values: reliability, honesty and trustworthiness. Thanks to this the demand for our products is steadily increasing.

Currently the Cooperative produces the following dairy products:

• consumer milk (in plastic bags, cartons, eco-jugs and PET bottles),
• fermented beverages (premium buttermilk, natural buttermilk and kefir),\
• cream (of various fat contents and in various containers),
• homogenized cottage cheeses, cottage cheeses produced by means of ultrafiltration method,
• sandwich spread cheeses (PRYMUS and KREM TWAROŻKOWY (COTTAGE CHEESE CREAM)),
• butter,
• ageing cheeses (SALAMI, EDAM WIELKOPOLSKI).

Our Cooperative stands out from other Polish dairy producers in its constant enhancement of production and management processes, as well as in the high standards of the infrastructure of its raw materials base and of production technology. Our outstanding position among dairy products suppliers is confirmed by numerous awards that we have been granted by state offices and quality assessment groups.
The Cooperative received the ISO 9001;1994 quality management certificate issued by the Lloyd Register Quality Assurance in December 2000. Currently quality management is regulated by the ISO 9001;2000 standard the certificate of which we received in December 2003.
In addition since June 2001 we have held the certificate of health quality of food products in HACCP.

Our Cooperative is one of the group of diaries which, according to the assessment of veterinary services which was confirmed in 2003 by a Brussels committee, meet the sanitary standards of the European Union.

Our Cooperative has been listed in the EU markets licensed exporter registry since May 2003.

The above facts confirm the superb standing of our Cooperative in the Polish diary industry which will ensure its future presence as a full-fledged player on the European market. All this ensures tangible benefits for the Cooperative's members. The first category of members - milk producers - are ensured a stable market for raw milk, and the second category - the processing plant staff - permanent jobs and decent salaries.

This high position of the Kalisz Cooperative is an armor against future problems and ensures further development through unrestrained access to European Union funding.