In 1978, a group of nine young men and women came together in the Cremona plain in the south of Lombardy, Italy. They were the children of farmhands, masons, milkers, labourers, and artisans, who wanted to cultivate healthy products without the use of synthetic and chemical substances, as taught by their fathers. Their aim was to practice and spread farming culture and develop the organic farming method.

In 1984, they founded the IRIS Agricultural Cooperative of Production and Work, as collective ownership, with the objective of cultivating exclusively through organic methods. They included four main points in their corporate purpose, such as practising and spreading organic farming, creating jobs for disadvantaged people, developing a direct relationship with the consumer, and promoting the culture of collective ownership.

Initially, the agricultural work started in a small town near Cremona with just one hectare of land. They produced seasonal vegetables to sell directly to consumers, and the cooperative received help from farmhand Angelo Gritta and Ivo Totti, pioneers of organic and biodynamic agriculture. The work was hard and tiring, but the cooperative produced top-quality healthy food at affordable and fair prices, which was the Iris Economic project.

To improve the sale of their vegetables, IRIS opened two shops in Cremona, where they organized many cultural activities, including teachings on organic production methods, nutrition education, and ecology. In 1990, the cooperative wanted to develop and extend its project, so it involved consumers by offering them the chance to become financing partners in the Iris project. This allowed IRIS to buy collective ownership goods, and the cooperative continued its agriculture project while spreading its founding values.

Since 1994/96, the IRIS farm in the village of Calvatone has become a benchmark for organic farmers. They continuously search for techniques that pursue the lowest environmental impact, produce top-quality products, use the least possible water, and mulch with not chemically processed paper. They also decided to transform their raw materials into finished products, which led IRIS to increase the number of worker-members, always with a perspective of mutuality.

IRIS works more and more to spread organic farming techniques, mostly to have closer relationships with its consumers. This is the beginning of their business relationship with GAS (ethical purchasing Groups), a movement of consumers who want to have a direct trust relationship with producers.

In 2005, IRIS decided to take over the pasta factory with which they had worked for years. The factory was in financial trouble and was not able to guarantee the continuity of work to employees. Therefore, the cooperative entered direct management and in 2008, acquired the pasta factory, keeping all jobs, in order to pursue its mission.