Located in Sonoma County, California is the historic Downtown Petaluma with its citizen’s actively contributing to Petaluma’s rich culture and unique community. One of the pioneers in the agricultural industry is positively Clover as a leading and sustainable dairy farm. At the head of Clover Stornetta Farms is the original founder, Gene Benedetti, who is after decades was actively involved in the dairy industry until passing in 2006. Now his two sons and two grandsons are involved at the Clover Stornetta plant in Petaluma.
After Mr. Benedetti started, his career in the dairy industry in 1946, the Clover Stornetta farms was founded in 1977 with Benedetti enthusiastically at the head. The rich natural resources of Sonoma County are the ideal for dairy farming is something he discovered early in his dairy career. With magnificent pastureland for cows to graze and terrific climate, the Clover Stornetta Farms received the county’s first dairy award, the Free Farmed Label for their humane production of animal products.
Born in 1919, few realize that Gene M. Benedetti was born in Sonoma County, after his parents left Italy in 1913. At age eight, his parents bought a house in Cotati and he still lives there with his wife. A native from Petaluma, the boy completed his education at Petaluma High School, went to St. Joseph’s Church in Cotati and continue to have his first communion there, got married in the same church. A man with strong roots and christian values, his first job at a Creamery was as a field man, going out to dairy farms to get new business. He continued on to the plant where he learned to make butter, cottage cheese, pasteurization, and bottled milk.
The injection of the advertising legend of Clover Stornetta was to create CLO Cow in 1969, which became the official mascot. The idea of putting together a comical cow came from an advertising company in Santa Rosa when Benedetti wanted to put up a billboard. Although the initial reaction was to change the first cow, it remained with the company which today is the company’s brand.
CLICK PAGE 2 BELOW AND LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF CLO COW BILLBOARDS, THE RECENT RELEASE OF THEIR NEW LINE OF ICE CREAM AND A ‘MOO-TUBE’ VIDEO
