Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

Do you miss the taste of Zweifel chips (or crisps as the Brits call them)? The fried snack has a cult following in Switzerland and among the diaspora.

The company claims that 95% of the potatoes used in their products come from about 250 Swiss farmers. But a poor potato harvest has meant that the main ingredient has to be imported. A little less Swissness in every bite.

Christof Schuerpf

In the news: March vote, Covid audit, gender change and money for Israel

• Pensions will be the topic of the Swiss vote on March 3. Two pension-related issues will be put to the voteExternal link: the trade unions’ initiative for a 13th old-age pension payment every year and an initiative by the youth branch of the Radical-Liberal Party which calls for the retirement age to be raised to 66.
• A Swiss audit committee concluded that the fight against abuse of short-time work during the Covid-19 pandemic was incomplete and called for stronger supervisory bodies. In 2020 alone the government paid out CHF11 billion ($12.3 billion), with around 20% of the money helping to prop up the hard-hit gastronomy sector.
• Gender affirmation medical procedures are on the rise in Switzerland. In 2022, 486 Swiss residents were admitted to hospital for one or more gender affirmation operationsExternal link. In 68% of cases, the aim of the operations carried out was gender reassignment from female to male.
• Canton Zurich has pledged CHF500,000 ($555,917) for the survivors of the attacks in Israel External linkand the reconstruction of the affected villages. The money from the charitable fund goes to the Eshkol region.

Keystone / Christopher Neundorf

Spud lite: Perfect potatoes are scarce on the ground

Because there is a shortage of about 100,000 tonnes of potatoes throughout Switzerland, the Zweifel crisps factory in Spreitenbach is procuring more potatoes from abroad than in other years. According to the Aargauer Zeitung paper, Zweifel has to import 15% to 18% of its potato requirementsExternal link across the border.

The poor weather conditions have meant that many potatoes remained small and did not reach the required minimum size. Now, an agreement has been reached with the chips industry that the potatoes supplied may be smaller than in other years.