Bianchi is step­ping on the gas. Although a lar­ge lob­ster adorns the Bianchi logo, the deli­ca­tes­sen dea­ler can do far more than deli­ver fish and sea­food. Meat and poul­try are also among the com­pany­’s core com­pe­ten­ci­es. To beco­me even stron­ger in this area, Bianchi built a new meat pro­duc­tion faci­li­ty in Zufikon AG during the lock­down last spring. „We had to con­sider whe­ther to put our plans on ice and save money during this cri­sis. But we said no! We want to be rea­dy when ever­ything returns to nor­mal,“ explains Dario Bianchi (lar­ge pic­tu­re abo­ve), who runs the com­pa­ny tog­e­ther with his cou­sin Luca Bianchi in the fifth generation.

No expen­se spared. The cri­sis is far from over, all restau­rants are clo­sed, only hotels and can­teens are open. The situa­ti­on is natu­ral­ly affec­ting the Bianchis as well. But one must see it posi­tively. „We were able to do a soft ope­ning of the new pro­duc­tion faci­li­ty just befo­re Christmas. We can pro­du­ce, test, eli­mi­na­te teething pro­blems with the machi­nes.“ At the moment, for exam­p­le, the spi­ral free­zer is not yet working. Once it is ope­ra­tio­nal, it will mean fewer work steps for employees, things will go faster, and free­zing ham­bur­gers, for exam­p­le, will take up less space. The pro­duc­tion is very modern. „During cons­truc­tion, we did­n’t inter­fe­re with our but­chers. If they said they nee­ded this or that machi­ne, we acqui­red it,“ says Dario. As soon as the chefs are allo­wed back at the sto­ve, Bianchi will be pre­pared for lar­ge orders.

Camel bur­gers! The shift beg­ins at 5 a.m. Production mana­ger Hansruedi Bossert deci­des what needs to be pro­du­ced based on the order situa­ti­on: cer­ve­lats, wie­ners, meat­balls, meat­lo­af, meat loaf, chicken cipo­la­ta. On this Thursday mor­ning, it’s brat­wursts, then they con­ti­n­ue with the ham­bur­gers. About 500 kilos of clas­sic veal brat­wursts are then essen­ti­al­ly still made accor­ding to tra­di­tio­nal craft­sman­ship. Of cour­se, the­re are modern machi­nes that make pro­duc­tion effi­ci­ent, but the but­cher’s years of expe­ri­ence and prac­ti­ced hands are just as important. With bur­gers, the­re are count­less dif­fe­rent sizes. Thicker or thin­ner. Seasoned or unse­a­so­ned. Pure beef bur­gers or mixed with pork. Salmon bur­gers are pro­du­ced twice a year. „We even had a camel bur­ger once – but that was­n’t a best­sel­ler,“ Dario admits with a laugh. Customers can even com­mis­si­on their own recipes. For the „Bärengasse“ in Zurich, Bianchi pro­du­ces Ojo-de-Agua bur­gers, made with meat from Dieter Meier’s farm.

Next? Thurgau apple pigs. While the meat scraps are going through the meat grin­der here, demand for meat-free alter­na­ti­ves is ste­adi­ly rising. „This is a trend we noti­ce and are pur­suing by offe­ring alter­na­ti­ves like Beyond Burger,“ says Dario Bianchi. Nevertheless, Bianchi is not see­ing a decli­ne in meat. „Demand for regio­nal and sus­tainable meat has increa­sed enorm­ously. We natu­ral­ly pro­mo­te that.“ Bianchi focu­ses on cal­ves from so-cal­led RAUS hus­bandry, Angus catt­le, Alpstein poul­try, and the next pro­ject will be Thurgau apple pigs. Bianchi also has meat from other pro­duc­tion methods in its ran­ge, but less and less. „We always point out to cus­to­mers what sus­tainable alter­na­ti­ves are available.