Kemptthal, Switzerland, December 5, 2022 - The Swiss foodtech start-up Planted, known for its meat made from alternative proteins, is investing in sourcing plant-based proteins from Switzerland. Planted is the fastest growing European start-up in the field of alternative proteins and, as a founding member of the Swiss Protein Association, is proactively committed to sustainable change in the Swiss food system.
 

On November 2, 2022, the Federal Council announced that the 2022 agricultural regulation package had been passed. With this political change, individual crop contributions will also be granted for the cultivation of protein plants for human nutrition from January 1, 2023. Until now, the cultivation of certain protein plants was only supported through individual crop contributions, provided the yield was used for animal feed. For Planted, this is an important first step to promote plant-based foods more strongly with the support of the Swiss agricultural industry. 

In the first three years since the company was founded, Planted has set up a meat production and research center with over 150 employees in Kemptthal, Zurich. Around 1 ton of plant-based meat is produced per hour and is now supplied to 7 European markets.
 

Successful purchase of Swiss yellow peas

In order to further increase local added value, the young company has now successfully started purchasing yellow peas in Switzerland due to the Federal Council's decision. Thanks to the commitment of forward-looking politicians, the pioneering spirit of Swiss farmers, the Swiss Farmers' Association, which supports the measures, and the 2022 agricultural regulation package, this step is financially and operationally possible for the first time - because until now, without equality between the use of feed and plant-based foods, Farmers who wanted to deliver to Planted had to forego subsidies. 

“With this groundbreaking step of being able to source Swiss yellow peas in addition to Swiss rapeseed oil, Planted can now continue to work on going through the value chain from the beginning in Switzerland and learning to align it with the needs and quality requirements of our products and customers. “, explains Lukas Böni, co-founder of Planted. “For us as a start-up, this is a major investment in the Swiss protein market, which we are making out of conviction. Scaling the value chain will take several more years and we are happy to have found partners with whom we can further advance this vision. We are extremely pleased to be able to incorporate Swiss yellow peas into our production.”
 

Proactively advance political framework conditions
 

The adoption of the new agricultural regulatory package regarding the equality of plant proteins for human nutrition is essential for Planted and the entire Swiss market for alternative proteins. However, the political framework still needs to be changed significantly in order to at least achieve equal treatment of plant and animal foods. Planted is one of the founding partners of the SPA | Swiss Protein Association and works proactively with partners from industry and agriculture to advance the issue of sustainable alternative protein sources on the political agenda.