"Focused organic expertise under one roof"

On December 11, Swiss organic vegetable producer Seeland Bio will open a brand new processing and packing hall in Ried near Kerzers (canton of Fribourg). The integrated packing station, with a total area of approx. 1,200m2, has a total of five packing lines. "Whether nets, tubular bags or Foodtainer trays - we can deliver the organic vegetables in any packaging required," says Managing Director Bruno Christen. The biggest advantage, however, lies in the logistics. "We now have focused organic expertise under one roof instead of several locations, some of which are over three kilometers away."

Views of the new building.

The family business cultivates both open-air and greenhouse areas. According to Christen, the cultivation year of 2023 was particularly challenging for the former. "There are still potatoes and carrots in the ground that still need to be harvested. This is partly due to the very late planting, but also to the extremely wet field conditions."

Spring cabbage from Switzerland.

The Seeland Bio company is also known for its kale. Christen: "We were much too early this year. We were already able to harvest our first produce in September, whereas we normally don't really get going until mid-October. The late sets were also ready for harvest very early, which is why the quality suffered and we had to sort out more produce than usual." Meanwhile, prices are roughly at the same level as last year, with a sharp rise in costs. "There is considerable price pressure in the entire cabbage sector, and we have to calculate very well, especially for a specialty like spring cabbage."

On the other hand, there have been some very good yields of greenhouse crops, Christen continues. Although inflation and lower purchasing power have led to a general drop in demand for organic produce in Switzerland, there is no sign of a decline in volumes at the Fribourg producer. "The new premises will help us to meet increasing demand in the future. We want to continue to grow on this basis: the Swiss population is growing and so is the demand for vegetables from local organic production," Christen concludes.

Images: Seeland Bio - Christen Gemüsebau