A calf that eats mues­li? At the St. Ottilien farm in Buttisholz, in the Canton of Lucerne, a new gene­ra­ti­on of cal­ves is being rai­sed: the mues­li-fed cal­ves. In col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with the St. Ottilien farm and Qualivo, a new veal con­cept has been deve­lo­ped that com­bi­nes ani­mal wel­fa­re, regio­nal agri­cul­tu­re, and pre­mier quality.

We visi­ted the St. Ottilien farm to see for our­sel­ves how the cal­ves live and to dis­co­ver the secret behind the spe­cial mues­li blend.

A col­la­bo­ra­ti­on bet­ween fami­ly-run busi­nesses. At the St. Ottilien farm, expe­ri­ence, tra­di­ti­on, and qua­li­ty con­scious­ness con­ver­ge. The mues­li-fed calf is the result of a clo­se part­ner­ship bet­ween fami­ly busi­nesses that per­so­nal­ly over­see every phase—from fee­ding to meat quality.

Philippe Moos (left), mana­ger of the St. Ottilien farm—now in its third generation—ensures the dai­ly care and well-being of the ani­mals along­side his fami­ly. Alexander Hofmann (right), CEO of Hofmann Nutrition AG Qualivo, also leads his fami­ly busi­ness in the third gene­ra­ti­on. He is respon­si­ble for the fee­ding con­cept and the spe­ci­al­ly deve­lo­ped mues­li blend that enables the mues­li-fed cal­ves to achie­ve vital, strong, and sta­ble deve­lo­p­ment. In the cen­ter, Massimo Trazza is respon­si­ble for meat purcha­sing at Bianchi.

A fee­ding con­cept for con­si­stent pre­mi­um qua­li­ty. Qualivo reli­es on a spe­ci­al­ly deve­lo­ped pre­mi­um mues­li for the ani­mals‘ nut­ri­ti­on, which is con­sist­ent­ly tail­o­red to the needs of the cal­ves. Based on the visi­on „The feed deter­mi­nes the qua­li­ty of the final pro­duct,“ a blend was crea­ted using high-qua­li­ty cere­al, corn, and wheat flakes. This is sup­ple­men­ted by plant-based pro­te­ins, sel­ec­ted oils, and essen­ti­al vit­amins, mine­rals, and trace ele­ments. Qualivo also uti­li­zes by-pro­ducts from food pro­duc­tion, such as corn germ or hazel­nut skins. In this way, valuable raw mate­ri­als are meaning­ful­ly recy­cled, crea­ting a natu­ral, nut­ri­ent-rich, and eco­lo­gi­cal­ly sus­tainable feed base.

The natu­ral micro­nu­tri­ents in Qualivo pre­mi­um fee­ding pro­vi­de the cal­ves with a strong foun­da­ti­on: they boost the immu­ne system, impro­ve nut­ri­ent absorp­ti­on, and make the ani­mals more resi­li­ent and vital overall.

Highest stan­dards of ani­mal wel­fa­re and meat qua­li­ty. For Philippe Moos, hus­bandry is the cen­tral buil­ding block for the cal­ves‘ well-being. Only when the envi­ron­ment, fee­ding, and care are right do the ani­mals deve­lop robust health. At the St. Ottilien farm, this means free­dom of move­ment, ple­nty of space, a bedded and cover­ed area with good ven­ti­la­ti­on, and scrat­ching brushes that sup­port natu­ral behavior.

Alexander Hofmann adds to the idea of natu­ral­ness: the cal­ves should be able to behave accor­ding to their nature—running, rest­ing, and eating when­ever and as much as they wish. The spe­ci­al­ly deve­lo­ped mues­li with its micro­nu­tri­ents fur­ther streng­thens the immu­ne system, sup­ports dige­sti­on, and ensu­res that nut­ri­ents are opti­mal­ly utilized.

Husbandry and fee­ding prin­ci­ples go hand in hand. This allo­ws the cal­ves to grow into healt­hy and robust ani­mals. It is pre­cis­e­ly this that crea­tes the meat qua­li­ty for which the mues­li-fed calf is known.

Sustainability & Conscious Production. Swiss Climate con­firms: The com­bi­na­ti­on of sus­tainable feed, good ani­mal hus­bandry, and cle­ar­ly defi­ned stan­dards signi­fi­cant­ly redu­ces envi­ron­men­tal impact—the CO₂ foot­print is six times lower than in con­ven­tio­nal pro­duc­tion systems.

The ori­gin of the ani­mals is equal­ly important: the cal­ves are deli­bera­te­ly sourced from the imme­dia­te sur­roun­dings. This keeps trans­port rou­tes short, redu­ces trans­port stress, and gives the young ani­mals a calm, sta­ble start to their rearing.

Muesli-fed calf—quality you can rely on every day. – Alexander Hofmann, QUALIVO