Blaser Café AG honored with the Phoenix Award 2022

The Phoenix Award for long-term Swiss entrepreneurship has been presented annually since 2020. The award honors Swiss SMEs that have mastered their succession arrangements for at least a century. Companies that have successfully ensured their succession and thus their preservation over such a long period of time have already had to overcome several crises such as world wars and economic crises and rise anew like the "Phoenix from the ashes". The focus as potential award winners is therefore on Swiss SMEs that will be 100 years old in the respective year or have been entered in the Swiss Commercial Register for 100 years. From these companies, an expert jury and a jury advisory board with representatives from science, entrepreneurship and the media determine the winner of the Phoenix Award in a multi-stage process. The evaluation focuses on the companies' innovative and disruptive capabilities, their team performance, and their contribution to society and the national economy. This year, the award goes to Blaser Café AG in Bern.

Blaser Café AG convinces all along the line

Thanks to a pioneering spirit, constant innovative strength and a commitment to sustainability that was as early as it was continuous, Blaser Café AG was able to win the vote of the jury and jury advisory board. Skills that have contributed to establishing the company not only as a coffee institution in the greater Bern area, but also as a "permanent fixture" in the international coffee market. One of the decisive steps in this direction was the founding of Caffè Speciali Certificati (CSC) by Blaser Trading AG, Blaser Café AG's sister company specializing in international green coffee trading, together with a number of Italian roasting companies. Another milestone is the co-founding of the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) in London in 1998.

The joy of innovation is reflected in a diverse range of activities characterized by entrepreneurial foresight. These include striking cornerstones such as the operation of the first fully automatic and electronically controlled roasting machine in Switzerland in 1955 and the entry into the airline business in 1998 thanks to a globally patented innovation for airline coffee machines. 2002 saw the opening of one of Switzerland's first coffee academies - Alpine Coffee Center - to impart the coffee expertise built up over decades. With the establishment of its own coffee bar and retail store, starting in 2014 with the "Rösterei Kaffee und Bar" at Güterstrasse 6 and further locations at Bubenbergplatz in 2018 and Gurtengasse 6 in 2020, Blaser Café AG opens up the whole world of coffee to private customers. In parallel, the online trade will be broadly positioned. The company also shows foresight in its commitment to sustainability, which was already lived at Blaser Café AG and Blaser Trading AG before it was "on everyone's lips". Whether as a partner of the first hour of Fairtrade Max Havelaar, through the seamless traceability of green coffees, the promotion of the reforestation project SEMEAR and much more.

Laying the foundation for sustainable entrepreneurship in difficult times

The proof that Blaser Café AG is able to rise like a "Phoenix from the ashes" in crisis situations is shown by a look at the year 1939. Company founder Walter Blaser dies unexpectedly. Despite a difficult economic situation and the concerns of the authorities, his widow Cécile Blaser, a trained ladies' tailor, successfully continued the business with courage and initiative together with her son, Walter Blaser Junior - and this at a time when women were still primarily expected to play the role of "faithful housewife," as laudator Corin Ballhaus emphasized. In retrospect, this may even have been a stroke of luck: It is only in difficult times that one learns to be economical with resources. Markus Blaser, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Blaser Café AG and a member of the third generation of the family, recalls an episode: Cécile Blaser once reprimanded an office employee because she wanted to throw away a pencil stub just because it was too short for the sharpening machine, although it was still possible to write with it. "We don't waste anything," was the message, which is still valid in the company today.

Importance of business succession highlighted.

All in all, qualities that are often characteristic of successful and traditional Swiss SMEs, which at the same time create the best conditions for reaching 100 years and older. An entrepreneurial achievement that deserves recognition. A satisfaction for Markus Blaser: "We are very happy about the Phoenix Award. It is an unexpected award for our entire team and the successful design of our companies, which has always been geared to the long term. It is gratifying that this award particularly highlights the importance of business succession, as it often receives too little attention in this context." Blaser Café has always been able to arrange succession within the family, without any pressure. And already the fifth generation is ready: Félice Blaser, grandson of Markus Blaser, is currently completing his vocational apprenticeship in his parents' business - and this is because he explicitly wanted it that way.

Seen in this light, the company can look to the future with optimism despite the many challenges it faces - volatile price trends in the coffee market, constantly changing consumer habits, increased energy costs. The Phoenix Award was also congratulated by Christoph Ammann, Director of the Canton of Berne's Department of Economic Affairs, Energy and the Environment, and Markus Willimann, Deputy Head of SME Policy at SECO. Christoph Ammann also paid particular tribute to the modesty with which Blaser Café AG knows how to shape its corporate culture despite its many deserved achievements.

More information: Blaser Café AG / Swiss umbrella organization for business succession - CHDU