Planted Foods ranks second at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 2023

Planted confirms its second position for the second time in a row. The Foodtech startup revolutionizes the food industry by creating plant-based protein made of 100% animal-product-free ingredients. The vegan meat alternatives do not include any additives. Planted Foods was founded in 2019 by Christoph Jenny, Eric Stirnemann, Lukas Böni, and Pascal Bieri.

The success story of ETH spin-off Planted has reached the federal authorities in Bern: on January 1st, 2023, the revised ordinance on individual crop contributions in crop production and the supplement for cereals came into force. Since then, the cultivation of yellow peas (and some other grain legumes) for food production in Switzerland has been subsidized by the state. Planted co-founder Pascal Bieri does not like to speak of a ‘Lex Planted’, but he makes no secret of the fact that he and the team knew about the project and were in contact with the initiators in Parliament.

The subsidy decision is important for Planted. An initial contract with the national agricultural cooperative Fenaco has been signed and Bieri assumes that in the medium term, a large part of the Planted products sold in Switzerland will be made with yellow peas from domestic fields. “Sustainability has a high priority in Planted’s marketing,” says HSG graduate Bieri. A lifecycle analysis commissioned by Planted recently confirmed that its plant-based meat is extremely resource-efficient compared with comparable animal-based meat products, with up to 80% fewer CO2 emissions and 90% less water consumption.

Bieri emphasizes: “Short distances in the procurement of raw materials will further reduce our footprint.”The extrusion and fermentation plants in Kemptthal, Zurich, are running at full speed since more and more consumers do not see why high-quality vegetable protein must be converted into animal muscle meat before it reaches the plate. Planted’s distribution partners include large-scale distributors Migros, Coop, and, most recently, Volg. But more and more restaurants are also cooking with Planted products – currently, more than 5,000 in Europe. Kronenhalle at Zurich Bellevue offers ‘Planted Geschnetzeltes Kronenhalle’ and Bieri knows several kebab stands that swear by planted.kebab.

Of the 240 employees, 60 work outside Switzerland in Germany, Austria, Italy, and the UK, and more than 60% of the daily production of 10 tonnes goes abroad. In the future, however, the EU area will no longer be supplied from Kemptthal: Bieri and his co-founders are evaluating a foreign production site.“We are also investing a lot of money in the further development of our product range,” he says. Various innovation projects are underway that aim to produce bigger, juicier, and more cost-effective vegan meat in the future. Planted is considered the fastest-growing company in Europe in the field of alternative proteins. The financial resources for further expansion are available: last September, the Zurich-based company raised CHF 70 million in a Series B round. The investors include well-known venture capital investors and the Swiss national football team’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer.