Seasonal Throughout Switzerland

The gebana range has always followed the principle of seasonality, which plays a more important role than transport when it comes to the sustainability and the ecological footprint of food.

We only import a few specialties in summer and autumn, when we Swiss have fresh berries, cherries, pears, apples, apricots and lots of vegetables. Until the beginning of 2020, this meant that our fresh product range was rather limited during these months.

The coronavirus and the first lockdown in March suddenly changed that. At that time, a number of Swiss farming families turned to us for help to sell their products since their usual sales markets had collapsed.

From Farmers Looking for Customers to the Switzerland Farmers Market

In no time at all, we launched the Farmers Looking for Customers (in German) campaign. The success overwhelmed us and showed that we can make trade just as fair with Swiss products as we can with mangoes or cashews from Burkina Faso.

Emboldened by the pace we had become accustomed during these months, we developed the concept further. Practically overnight, we created the Switzerland Farmers Market. In the shop category of the same name, you will find various alpine cheeses, an abundance of summer fruits, vegetables, specialties such as Swiss miso and Shoyu sauce, exquisite Swiss organic wines and forgotten classics such as string beans from BioManufaktur Grünboden.

Farming Families Keep Most of the Sales Price

Most important to us was the price the farming families would receive for their products. We therefore sell them at farm shop prices including shipping costs. For most products, only 10% of the sales price goes to us, while the remaining 90% goes directly to the farming families. Only the costs for postage and packaging are deducted from this amount. We only keep 15-20% of the sales price for products such as cheese and wine.

In addition to the right price for producers, we were also concerned with efficiency i.e. keeping transport routes short and saving packaging material. The result is very simple: the farming families take care of the shipping themselves, so the products are brought from the farm straight to your home. We also actively support families who are not used to shipping their goods.

Farming Families Concentrate on their Products - We Take Care of the Rest

We take care of all the administrative tasks related to the sale and dispatch of the food so that the farming families don’t have to. They can concentrate on their core business: cultivation, harvest and processing.

While our Swiss offer will continue to grow over the next few months, we are already thinking about how the concept could be replicated in other countries. Germany? Austria? France? As always, we are moving forward.

All Swiss products are included in our new seasonal calendar, where you can see at a glance which products will arrive and when.