INSIDE SWISS FOODTECH. HOW IS FOOD INNOVATION IN SWITZERLAND GOING?

Let’s kick things off with a simple question: Is Switzerland becoming a benchmark for food innovation?”

Looking back at our previous article “The 70 most influential people in Swiss agrifood-tech,”

the answer seems to be yes.

This impression was further reinforced by the Swiss Food Innovation Tour organized last June by the Italian-Swiss Consulate, in which I had the chance to participate.

THE REASONS WHY

As highlighted in the aforementioned article, several factors strengthen the position of Confoederatio Helvetica not only as a global foodtech leader but also as a hub of innovation in general. Here’s a quick recap:

• A tax system that’s refreshingly light.

• No suffocating unions or endless strikes.

• Trust and loyalty — not just empty words.

• No delusions of global superiority — just steady progress.

• A favorable climate (at least south of the Alps).

• Discipline and rule of law — because chaos is bad for business.

I had the pleasure of tasting that during the Swiss Food Innovation tour, which made a stop in the Kemptal Valley, home to two of the highest expressions of Swiss Foodtech. One is Planted, the Swiss leader in plant-based proteins, and the other is The Cultured Hub, a joint venture between three food giants — Givaudan, Migros, and Bühler — created to accelerate research in cellular agriculture. While writing this article, The Cultured Hub announced an official partnership with cell-based pioneer and leader Aleph Farms.

For a foodtech professional from Italy like me, this all feels like pure science fiction.

THE INSIDERS

Leaving science fiction aside, when it comes to exploring a topic in depth, is there anything more valuable than the perspective of sector insiders? Probably not.

That’s why I decided to organize a second tour, Inside Swiss Foodtech: a remarkable three-day journey through some of Switzerland’s most reliable innovation centers, means Zurich, Lausanne and Fribourg, with the goal of learning more and interviewing key players in the Swiss ecosystem — voices who are shaping the future of foodtech every day. 

Here are the insiders: 

• Giacomo Cattaneo, Founder and CEO of FOOD FOUNDERS Studio

• Christina Senn Jakobsen, CEO of Swiss Food and Nutrition Valley

• Maria Eugenia Barcos, Startup Program Lead at Nestlé

• Matt Lashmar, Managing Director of MassChallenge Switzerland

• Claire Casteran, Director of Cluster Food & Nutrition

• Matteo Vanotti, Cofounder and CEO of xFarm Technologies

• Tomas Turner, Founder and CEO of Cosaic

THE SITUATION

So, what’s the actual situation of food innovation in Switzerland “Overall, there is a fantastic and very dynamic ecosystem. It's very vibrant and it's filled with people with passion”, says Giacomo. According to Christina “Food and ag innovation in Switzerland is thriving. I would actually just say it's having a momentum. Maria Eugenia’s opinion is that “in general, the food innovation in Switzerland is extremely dynamic. The particularity is that we have many actors from start-up investors, and we have a large amount of different people coming from different countries, different nationalities that bring different perspectives”. Matt says that “we have around about 1,500 start-ups apply for a couple of programs that MassChallenge runs. And those numbers have been going up. So, the numbers are good”.

Claire states that “Switzerland is ranked as the first innovative country for 15 years now, and food is part of this innovation scope. We have the chance to have a multitude of companies, working in the food sector, as well a rich environment of academic partners, of universities and high schools.

Matteo’s vision is that “Switzerland is living a very dynamic phase in terms of food innovation. There is strong activity around alternative proteins, novel ingredients, food-waste reduction and traceability, even if our direct network is still limited on the pure food side”. The opinions is shared by Thomas: “Switzerland has a vibrant and growing food innovation scene. There are quite a few startups, both in deep tech and consumer-facing products. The consumer base is generally not too price-sensitive and places significant importance on sustainability, which creates favorable conditions for innovative food products.

STRENGHT AND WEAKNESS

Regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the Swiss foodtech ecosystem, I have summarized the different opinions in the following list for clarity:

	STRENGHTS		WEAKNESSES
Giacomo	The power and variety of the ecosystem		The foodtech is too much "tech" and not enough "food"
Christina	The power and variety of the ecosystem		The cost of living
Maria Eugenia	The power and variety of the ecosystem		The mindset sometimes looks too "local"
Matt	The corporate engagement and access to capital		The cost of living
Claire	The combination of tradition and innovation		The dimension of the country can limit development
Matteo	The variety of the ecosystem and access to capital		The limited size of the market
Thomas	The power and variety of the ecosystem		Innovation can be slower than in faster-moving ecosystems

Definitively, Swiss foodtech can rely on a powerful and well-connected ecosystem, where institutions, corporates, SMEs, universities, and startups row together. However, the high cost of living remains a serious constraint for market development.

THE SECRET RECIPE

What about the secret recipe to boost food innovation in the Swiss Confederation?

Giacomo wonders "What if we could grant startups the resources, the network, the team on day zero necessary to build scalable startups both on technology and especially market demand? And more importantly, what if we worked tightly with the industry to identify those problems that we know we absolutely need to solve to create a sustainable future for our food systems? Those that are just a little bit too distant for an industry player to commit investing money in, five years out where it’s difficult to justify a continuous budget and internal championing necessary for early-stage research to mature and be validated? This is the opportunity to change innovation at the systemic level, and the bridges we are building with our Studio.”

Christina’s opinion is that the priority should be to keep connecting the dots to foster the ecosystem, while Maria Eugenia believes the focus should be on growing the mindset.

For Matt, the key is “boosting strategic alignment between corporates and startups.”

Claire’s secret recipe has ”four ingredients: collaboration, proximity, patience and tradition”.

Matteo says that “it’sis a mix of early internationalisation and strong collaboration among stakeholders. Switzerland offers great benefits for startups in the early stages, but it’s a very niche market; without going abroad soon after Series A it’s difficult to prove the ability to scale. Building bridges with international markets while leveraging the Swiss advantages, quality, funding, accelerators, is the way to truly boost Swiss foodtech”.

Thomas states “we need better testing grounds for novel foods, adopting a “sandbox” approach. This would allow startups to design, test, and iterate their products more easily and quickly, reducing regulatory friction and speeding up innovation cycles”.

Here’s the actual situation of Swiss Foodtech. The full interviews are available on the long version of video available on Youtube.

What’s your opinion on this matter? Feel free to comments and reshare the article in your network.