LAND O LAKES

Land O'Lakes Butter package with Native American woman holding a box of butter, sitting on grass near water, with trees in the background.

BUILT BUY FARMERS,
SHAPED BY THE MIDWEST

Land O'Lakes was founded on July 8, 1921, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The company was established when delegates from 320 creamery cooperatives joined together to form the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association. John Brandt was elected to the first board of directors by the representatives and later became president of the organization. Originally known as the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association, the company did not adopt the name Land O'Lakes until 1924, when it held a naming contest that offered a prize of $500 in gold to the winner. Land o lakes butter became especially popular in 1924 from the name change and it differed from many competing brands. While most butter at the time was made from sour cream and packaged in wooden tubs, Land O'Lakes produced butter from fresh sweet cream and wrapped it in wax parchment paper, keeping it fresher for longer periods.

Vintage advertisement featuring children at a tea party, with a large cake and a dog. The ad promotes Land O'Lakes sweet cream butter with the slogan 'Churned from sweet (not sour) cream.'
Vintage advertisement featuring children at a tea party, with a large cake and a dog. The ad promotes Land O'Lakes sweet cream butter with the slogan 'Churned from sweet (not sour) cream.'
Vintage advertisement for LAND O' LAKES sweet cream butter featuring a woman in a black dress and white apron, holding a jar of butter and tasting with a spoon. The background is green with line sketches of cows and farm landscape. The ad highlights the butter's farm-fresh flavor and quality, showing a package of LAND O' LAKES butter, a stick of butter, and a bowl labeled 'Churned from Sweet Not Sour Cream.'

A DAIRY LEGEND TAKES SHAPE

In 1928, the company hired Arthur C. Hanson to design new packaging featuring the "butter maiden," Mia, a Native American woman  kneeling beside a Minnesota lake and pine trees while holding a box of butter with herself on it. The image quickly became the symbol of the Land O'Lakes brand and remained on its packaging for decades. When the Great Depression hit, Land O’ Lakes did something out of the ordinary and launched a massive ad campaign advertising their butter as government-tested and certified, appealing to the women who made most household grocery purchases at the time. By the 1970s Land O’ Lakes had  expanded beyond dairy products  and merged with Farmers Regional Cooperative producing farming supplies like seed, fertilizers, and livestock feeds. Later in 2020 marking the company's 100th anniversary the company removed Mia leaving only the lake and pine trees. The change reflected the cooperative’s desire to emphasize the farmers and agricultural communities that helped build the brand. Today Land O’ Lakes remains a farmer cooperative Headquartered in Arden Hills, Minnesota. Land O’ Lakes is now a nationally recognized brand sold nationwide,  bringing in $16 billion in annual revenue. 

Vintage advertisement for Land O' Lakes sweet cream butter, featuring illustrations of butter packaging, sweet rolls, and a small dish of butter, with descriptive text about the product's quality and flavor.