Originating in the Netherlands, Leerdammer® is the first brand in Europe for sliced cheese (in volumes terms). The famous cheese with holes has many features including an unmistakable mild and nutty taste, and a resolutely offbeat personality.
Leerdammer®’s story begins in Holland. In 1974, two Dutch cheese makers developed a new cheese with holes by combining Gouda and Emmental cheeses. From the start, Leerdammer® blended the best Dutch cheese traditions with a novel nutty taste that has won over European consumers.
In 2002, Leerdammer® joined the portfolio of Bel brands. Innovation and fun became strong attributes of the brand, which was already as well known for its distinctive taste as for its offbeat commercials.
Leerdammer® comes in many formats and flavors to facilitate any daily meal: in slices to prepare delicious sandwiches or eat on its own, in cheese blocks for a yummy cheese plater, or even in the form of cheese pallets for a quick and easy meal. Highly appreciated in Germany, France and Italy, it is also very popular in the rest of Europe.
Leerdammer was almost called Schoonrewoerd, in honor of the village where it was first made. But faced with the obvious difficulties of pronouncing this typically Dutch name, its creators decided to name the cheese after the nearby city of Leerdam. Smart move. Leerdammer travels easier, particularly for a cheese that from the outset was already looking to go well beyond the borders of its homeland.
In its new campaign “Whatever Your Way” launched in 2020, Leerdammer® wants to celebrate today families chaotic but joyful lifestyles, using the brand’s usual humoristic tone of voice.
Whatever your way of living and eating, there is a Leerdammer product that can fit it. For everyday quick meals or week-end yummy brunches, cold or hot, casual or refined, sitting or not, sharing or alone… there are unlimited possibilities to enjoy the Leerdammer taste everyone craves for. However people crave it.
Through this campaign, Leerdammer wants to share values that matter to the brand – freedom, diversity and progressiveness.
No one said family life was perfect.
No one said a good meal requires hours in the kitchen.
Leerdammer® puts environmental and social responsibility at the very core of its mission. The brand commitments are based on four main pillars:
Sustainable agriculture
The cows whose milk makes Leerdammer® cheese graze on pasture at least 6 hours a day for a minimum of 120 days a year or at least 720 hours in a 120-day period, as defined by the Dutch dairy profession.
Leerdammer® ensures the cows are fed with GMO-free (<0,9%) food for slices sold in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and commits to move all its production by 2025.
Fight against climate change
Leerdammer® is committed to reducing its environmental footprint at all stages, from its farms to your plate. The milk used to make Leerdammer® is produced at farms within 2 to 150 km from its cheese dairies in Holland. The shorter the transport routes, the smaller the CO 2 footprint.
Responsible packaging
Leerdammer® click-packs are made of 100% PET which makes them ready to recycle, and they contain a minimum of 30% recycled material in the tray. The brand’s goal is to have all its packaging 100% recyclable ready and/or biodegradable by 2025!
Healthier food
Leerdammer® cheese is lactose-free and suitable for vegetarians. It is made with 4 ingredients only (except for Le Moelleux, cheese with inclusions and Leerdammer® cheese pucks): a high-quality milk, salt for taste uniqueness and preservation, lactic acid bacteria for fermentation and ripening, and microbial rennet to curdle the milk in an early step in the cheesemaking process.
