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Switzerland

Off the back of a lorry

peter 0

Tomorrow, on Friday (September 5) Swiss cooperative Migros is marking its centenary by selling basic groceries off the back of a pick-up truck, just like its founder Gottlieb Duttweiler did 100 years ago. He loaded a fleet of five Model T Fords with six basic products: cornettes (Swiss pasta); coffee; rice; sugar; soap and blocks of refined coconut. Duttweiler got off to a good start despite the difficult economic times. The customised pick-up trucks went from one village to the next, in the French-speaking districts and uplands around Mont Blanc. To mark the occasion, this year’s centenary trucks will be carrying 100 Migros-manufactured own label products, Migros store inventories routinely run to 40,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs).

Switzerland has a long tradition of  integrating road transport: its PostBus network has been operational since 1906, with a number of forays into retailing. When developing a strategy for Migros, Duttweiler researched his competitors’ working practices and adopted the productive ones. It is worth noting, for instance, that although PostBus retained dedicated facilities for horses until 1962*, it ran very few horse-drawn buses. By 1925, Henry Ford’s Model T series had become the commercial motor of choice around the world, since it could be extensivly modified for local requirements. Duttweiler carried out simple and cost-effective adaptations to his fleet, which grew steadily.

If you want to join in with the celebrations in Switzerland, follow this link.

*Coincidentally, Dr Beeching began his programme of cuts to the UK railway network at around the same time, starting with stations that still had stabling.

A footnote that Betty Bossi would endorse…

Never confuse the Swiss national pasta with macaroni: that would be sacrilege! A cornette looks like an elbow joint and the shape tends to settle into a stodgy honeycomb, unless a sauce of the right viscosity is added at exactly the right moment.

PS Pasta maker Betty Bossi is the Swiss market leader.

On October 18, peter added:

The Migros Merci (“thank you”) bus is safely back in its garage after completing a round trip of eight and a half thousand kilometres, stopping at 100 places to celebrate the Swiss retailer’s centenary. Over 45,000 people turned out to buy souvenirs of the occasion — the best sellers were Migros mini baskets, croissants and cervelas, from a choice of six products.

 

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A voice from the past

peter 0

Twenty five years ago Europe was in a state of flux. Many differing political agendas were being promoted in the belief that drafting the right regulations would somehow automatically unlock all the expectations with little or no further discussion or purpose.

If there was a single example to illustrate the processes involved, you will not be surprised to learn that I happen to think that competition is  sine qua non  for civilised society. Considering the central role of competition in a liberal economy, it is disturbing that at no point during the closing years of the 20th century was there a single EU-backed discussion or study of commercial planning permission for urban populations. At the time, there was just one voice to be heard in the darkness, challenging the naif notion that competition would somehow develop unhindered in a bed of thistles, that we would somehow recognise this state of innocence when it emerges from the shadows. The voice was that of French deputy Jean-Paul Charié. He presided over la commission de la production et les Echanges, publishing a parliamentary report into dysfunctional competition. At the time I was a production sub on a weekly trade title . Intrigued by the subject matter and knowing that this was a one-off opportunity, I phoned the French parliament and spoke to Chariés office. I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call back from Charié in person, when he promised to post me a copy of the report to get the full story. Sadly, I never spoke to him again, since he died, but his published work casts a bright light on topics that thenceforth could  be debated in public with impunity. The evidence he collected on commercial malpractices came from all over Europe, painting a rather downbeat picture of how ethical standards in  retailing had declined while managing to appear outwardly presentable.

Note to readers: There is a badge like the one at the top of this page, to flag up this extended series.

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Burning question

peter 0

Wildfires across huge areas of southern Europe mean even more bad news for olive oil and table olive packers. It is impossible to predict the full effect on this winter’s prices for olive oil or table olives, but there will be direct consequences. This is not a complete wipe-put story, since established olive trees with deep root systems can recover from fires, although this will take time. Young olive trees are more susceptible to fire damage.

Click image for latest information

The immediate impact will be on packers and blenders of olive oil, particularly in Italy: these skilled folk have a network of suppliers for very specific oils with relatively rare qualities. The suppliers of such rarities are spread over the continent, from Gibraltar and north Africa down to the middle east. The trading network is complex and known to a handful of olive oil blending experts.

In a year when the mainstream crop is already looking patchy and fraught, this will mean higher costs for the retailers. In the UK, the multiples are reluctant to let their double digit margins take a hit and will do their level best to make sure that suppliers carry the burden. The situation is, however, beyond horse trading. Bulk olive oil prices will be non-negotiable, where there is product to be had. Looking at the Mediterranean over the next few weeks, the following impacts can be expected. Industrial tomatoes for peeled plum tomato canning lines can be expected to be short, since crop irrigation is being used for firefighting. Chopped tomatoes, passata and tomato paste can be made from almost any variety of tomato and production is not limited to southern Italy. Table olives are under a shadow, with a high risk of localised damage: a lot of olives will have been burnt off the trees. Durum wheat, essential for pasta manufacture, may have escaped the worst of the heat waves, but export tonnages will probably be restricted.

For the latest information on the European forest fires, click here.

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Migros marks major milestone

peter 0

Swiss retail giant Migros has achieved the first stage of its 2030 carbon neutrality plan. All the multiple’s retail premises have completed their transition to become carbon neutral.

As the country’s largest food business and retailer, Migros operates the lion’s share of the national retail park. It has been a dominant force on the national retail scene for decades.

Between now and 2030, Migros will cut a further 80% of its greenhouse gas emissions from its business activities, including its extensive food manufacturing arm.

Instead of buying carbon credits to offset its remaining environmental overheads, Migros will “inset” its remaining emissions. One example of this arrangement is a project working with 1,000 Thai peasant families to raise the environmental standards of their rice growing. For instance, there are gains to be made by not flooding paddy fields, which area significant source of methane emissions. The result is a contribution towards a potential reduction of  60% in  the crop’s carbon footprint worldwide.

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Longer shelf life for fresh produce

peter 0

Swiss researchers have found a way of using fruit and vegetable peelings to make a coating that extends the shelf life of fresh produce. Staff at the Empa research body have been working with Lidl Switzerland since 2019 to develop what promises to be a game changer.

Bananas have been chosen to test Empa’s cellulose coating.

Testing the coating on bananas, a gain of up to a week was recorded in the product life. There is the added benefit that with a reduction in the use plastic materials, the risk of condensation or rot in transit is also lower. “The big goal is that such bio-coatings will be able to replace a lot of petroleum-based packaging in the future,” explains Gustav Nyström, head of the Empa lab.

Lidl Switzerland has 150 stores that will take part in testing the new coating as it continues its development over the next two years.

Further details from the Empa website.

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P… R… no Q!

peter 0

Switzerland’s biggest retail cooperative, Migros, is eliminating supermarket checkout queues. Customers using the Migros “subitoGo” application can scan their purchases on their smartphone and leave the store without further ado.

The system will be tried out at 80 outlets and rolled out if it proves successful. The software also links into any shopping list that might have been prepared before leaving home; fewer chances of leaving the store without a full complement of shopping.  SubitoGo combines the Italian word for suddenly and Go.

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