Bianchi, the long-stan­ding gastro­no­my sup­plier fea­turing the cha­rac­te­ri­stic red lob­ster logo, is renow­ned for its exten­si­ve ran­ge of fish and sea­food impor­ted from across the glo­be. However, Bianchi also offers exqui­si­te Swiss meat pro­ducts: Thurgau apple pork, Appenzell her­bal lamb, Alpstein chicken, Swiss Wagyu, and „Bruderhahn“ cocke­rel meat. The latest addi­ti­on to the Bianchi sel­ec­tion is veal from the Qualivo pro­gram. Qualivo is a brand of the Swiss fee­ding spe­cia­list Hofmann Nutrition AG. For foo­d­ak­tu­ell, this was rea­son enough for an on-site visit – mee­ting with Hofmann Nutrition CEO Alexander Hofmann at Bianchi’s head­quar­ters in Zufikon, Aargau. The spe­cial thing about Qualivo veal: it comes from Qualivo-cer­ti­fi­ed farms in Switzerland. Like all cal­ves, they are fed milk in the first few months and then reared on hay and the Qualivo mues­li from Hofmann Nutrition in Bützberg (see box). Thanks to this mues­li-based diet and a slight­ly lon­ger aging pro­cess after slaugh­ter, the veal beco­mes more aro­ma­tic and offers a firm­er bite than con­ven­tio­nal veal. „This balan­ced fee­ding approach leads to a con­sist­ent­ly high meat qua­li­ty,“ says Hofmann.

Feed exper­ti­se
The mues­li feed for Qualivo cal­ves con­ta­ins corn flakes, corn germ from corn starch pro­duc­tion, wheat, rape­seed meal from rape­seed oil pro­duc­tion, and hazel­nut flour from nut pro­ces­sing, as well as herbs, plant extra­cts, yeast extra­cts, fats, essen­ti­al oils, mine­rals, vit­amins, and trace elements.
The fami­ly-owned com­pa­ny Hofmann Nutrition AG was foun­ded in 1962. It spe­cia­li­zes in natu­ral, health-pro­mo­ting, and effi­ci­en­cy-enhan­cing micro­nu­tri­ents for ani­mal nut­ri­ti­on. The spe­cial­ty feed under the Hokovit brand is expor­ted to 20 count­ries, span­ning Europe, America, and Asia. 

Flavor, qua­li­ty, and sus­taina­bi­li­ty. This qua­li­ty also con­vin­ced Bianchi, as Head of Meat Purchasing Massimo Trazza con­firms. „Bianchi must be able to stand behind its pro­ducts one hundred per­cent – our cus­to­mers trust us.“ Therefore, the meat and the col­la­bo­ra­ti­on with Qualivo were tho­rough­ly tested through seve­ral tastings. Trazza is con­vin­ced that the fla­vor, qua­li­ty, and hus­bandry methods cor­re­spond exact­ly to what his cli­ente­le in the high-end gastro­no­my sec­tor desi­res. Restaurateurs can also com­mand a slight­ly hig­her pri­ce becau­se the­re is a gre­at sto­ry behind it. „Bianchi also thri­ves on good sto­ries.“ The advan­ta­ge for Qualivo far­mers: Bianchi does not just buy the prime cuts, but takes over and uti­li­zes the enti­re calf. The far­mer has a gua­ran­teed inco­me, as Hofmann explains. Consequently, the Bianchi online shop offers 20 dif­fe­rent items – from trim­med fil­let and loin to flank steak, trim­med cheeks, tri-tip, spa­re ribs, and boi­led beef (Tafelspitz).

Utilizing more of the ani­mal. Second cuts like a flank steak have more fla­vor and are jui­cier than usu­al thanks to the mues­li fee­ding, Hofmann empha­si­zes. And Trazza notes that Bianchi is also deve­lo­ping new items to pro­mo­te the „nose to tail“ prin­ci­ple. Twenty years ago, veal sweet­breads were not real­ly uti­li­zed; today, they are in just as much demand as a fil­let. Feeding cal­ves with Qualivo mues­li leads to more fla­vor and lower CO2 emis­si­ons com­pared to fat­tening cal­ves with milk and milk pow­der. Many peo­p­le are also unfa­mi­li­ar with the veal should­er fil­let or the flat iron from the should­er. „You don’t always have to pro­cess ever­ything into tar­ta­re.“ The plan is for Bianchi to purcha­se around 1,000 Qualivo cal­ves next year, appro­xi­m­ate­ly 20 per week. At this volu­me, 2,200,000 kg of CO2 emis­si­ons would be saved, says Hofmann. According to a stu­dy by Swiss Climate, fee­ding cal­ves with Qualivo
mues­li cau­ses six times less CO2 emis­si­ons per kilo­gram of meat than con­ven­tio­nal fee­ding. „Less CO2. More fla­vor“ is the­r­e­fo­re the cla­im for Qualivo veal.

An uncom­pro­mi­sing ser­vice pro­vi­der. Bianchi has a long and proud histo­ry as a sup­plier to the hotel and cate­ring indu­stry. In 1881, Giuseppe Bianchi ope­ned his busi­ness in the city of Zurich, sel­ling fruit and pre­ser­ves. He soon added fish and sea­food to his ran­ge, fol­lo­wed later by meat, game, and other spe­cial­ties. Today, with Dario and Luca Bianchi as fifth-gene­ra­ti­on mana­ging direc­tors, Bianchi is „a deli­ca­cy scout and logi­stics ope­ra­ti­on in one,“ as the com­pa­ny puts it. They see them­sel­ves as an uncom­pro­mi­sing ser­vice pro­vi­der, as Marketing Manager Michelle Hämmerli empha­si­zes. „With us, you can order until 3 AM and recei­ve the goods on the same day. No mini­mum order value, no deli­very fee.“ Bianchi deli­vers throug­hout Switzerland, inclu­ding to pri­va­te indi­vi­du­als. 170 trucks are on the road every day. Takeaways and smal­ler retail­ers are also among the cus­to­mers, but the majo­ri­ty of the goods go to the hotel and gastro­no­my sectors.

Ultra-fle­xi­ble logi­stics. „We are not just a cheese or mush­room dea­ler. But cus­to­mers can order almost ever­ything from us in one place, in high qua­li­ty and at a good pri­ce,“ says Trazza con­fi­dent­ly. „And our logi­stics are ultra-fle­xi­ble,“ adds Michelle Hämmerli. At Christmas, they some­ti­mes run two tours a day to win­ter sports resorts. „When Zermatt was sno­wed in, we ren­ted a heli­c­op­ter and deli­ver­ed by air.“ The Swiss gastro­no­my sce­ne is in flux – the num­ber of clo­sures and bank­rupt­ci­es is hig­her than befo­re, and the staff shorta­ge is striking. Does Bianchi feel any of this? „In any case, we have no loss in tur­no­ver; on the con­tra­ry,“ says Trazza. „Meat sales were even a fifth hig­her this year.“ A deve­lo­p­ment to which Qualivo veal could con­tri­bu­te next year.