The fenaco cooperative works with various organisations at a regional and national level. The overview below shows a selection of the most important memberships and partnerships.
Agri & Co Challenge
fenaco supports the Agri & Co Challenge programme of the canton of Fribourg. Its aim is to attract aspiring young companies from the agriculture, food and biomass sectors. These start-up companies can establish themselves in a competence centre at St. Aubin (FR).
AgroCleanTech
fenaco is involved in the AgroCleanTech platform, the objective of which is for agriculture to make an important contribution to Switzerland’s energy and climate goals too.
Agroscope
Agroscope is the federal government's competence centre for agricultural research and is part of the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). The approximately 1,000 employees work at 12 locations in Switzerland. fenaco is working with Agroscope on a project to control harmful white worms using beneficial mushrooms, for example. The goal is to introduce new production and application processes.
crop.zone
crop.zone GmbH was founded in 2019. It unites an experienced team with a broad background in the sectors of agricultural engineering, start-ups, development, licensing and authorisation. The objective of crop.zone is to develop new methods as alternatives to conventional plant protection and offer them commercially.
digitalswitzerland
fenaco is a member of the digitalswitzerland association, which unites more than 150 leading companies and organisations. digitalswitzerland aims to strengthen Switzerland’s position as an outstanding innovation hub.
ECO SWISS
ECO SWISS is the Swiss industry organisation for environmental protection and occupational safety and health. These are topics that affect all businesses, including fenaco. ECO SWISS offers a platform and network for firms and associations to deal with these matters and find solutions jointly.
Energy Agency of the Swiss Private Sector
The Energy Agency of the Swiss Private Sector (EnAW) was founded by associations supporting Swiss industry and commerce. It stands for cooperation between the State and businesses to achieve energy and climate policy objectives. The main concern is to reduce CO2 emissions in Switzerland. fenaco is a member of EnAW.
ETH Zurich
The ETH Zurich is one of the best universities in the world and one of the leading universities on the European continent. It has more than 23,000 students and more than 500 professors from 121 countries. fenaco has been supporting the Chair of Molecular Plant Breeding at ETH Zurich since 2015. The CRISPR/Cas method offers enormous potential for progress in plant breeding.
FiBL - the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture
fenaco and the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL) have entered into a strategic partnership for 2020. FiBL is one of the world's leading research institutes for organic agriculture. FiBL's strengths are interdisciplinary research, innovation in collaboration with farmers and the food sector, and rapid knowledge transfer. The institute employs a total of 280 staff at its various locations.
foodward
The foodward association is active as a platform and interface in the food sector and sees itself as the network of experts for the sector. The range of services includes further training, circle events, seminars, study trips and a job portal. With the partnership, fenaco supports the development of new activities and the optimisation of the existing ones. At the same time, fenaco employees benefit from favourable conditions.
Idée Coopérative
In order to promote the cooperative system, fenaco is involved, as a founding member, with the Idée Coopérative (cooperative companies organisation). Other prominent members are Mobiliar, Migros, Raiffeisen Schweiz, Mobility, die Swiss Travel Fund (Reka) and many others.
öbu – The Swiss Business Council for Sustainable Development
öbu is the network for sustainable business in Switzerland and its members include around 350 companies as well as organisations and institutions. fenaco has been a member since 1998. The members strive to ensure a prospering economy, while at the same time upholding their ecological and social responsibilities.
PestiRed
PestiRed is a resource programme of the Federal Office for Agriculture. It aims to test new practices to reduce the use of pesticides by 75% on agricultural land. fenaco is a partner in the PestiRed project, which will be launched in 2019. 68 farms in the cantons of Solothurn, Vaud and Geneva are participating in this programme, which will run until 2027.
SWISSCOFEL
As a trading company in the field of fruits, vegetables and potatoes, fenaco is a member of SWISSCOFEL. The sector organisation’s members, numbering approximately 170, are active in the wholesale and retail trades, importing and sector-related fields.
Swiss Farmers’ Union
Due to its historical proximity to agriculture and its membership structure, fenaco is a full member of the Swiss Farmers’ Union. This is the umbrella organisation for the cantonal farmers’ associations as well as numerous professional associations.
Swiss Fruit Association
As a leading Swiss fruit processor, fenaco is a member of the Swiss Fruit Association (swissfruit). This sector organisation is involved in marketing planning, advertising for Swiss fruits, quality, information as well as training and further training, among other things.
Swiss Mountain Aid
Schweizer Berghilfe (Swiss Mountain Aid) has been helping people in the Swiss mountains since 1943. It supports projects that create jobs and add value in the mountain areas. In this way, it helps to counteract migration and ensures that the mountain regions thrive in the future too. fenaco is a partner of Berghilfe.
Swiss Table
With its food distribution, Table Suisse contributes to the reduction of poverty in Switzerland. Every day, they receive about 16 tons of food from producers, large distributors, retailers and industry. They then redistribute it free of charge to social institutions - shelters for the homeless, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and other relief organisations - and to distribution centres.
Tichlein deck dich
Tischlein deck dich saves food from destruction and distributes it to people affected by poverty throughout Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. Every week they reach around 20,000 people in need with their 133 distribution points. In this way they make a socially meaningful and ecologically sustainable contribution to the respectful handling of food.
University of Applied Sciences Eastern Switzerland (OST)
The High School of Applied Sciences develops sustainable solutions for the industrial, service and agricultural sectors. It employs around 50 people at its locations in Rapperswil, Buchs and St. Gallen. In an Innosuisse project, fenaco, the OST University of Applied Sciences and other partners are working on sustainable weed control using drones and agricultural robots.
YASAI
YASAI revolutionizes the way food is produced in the 21st century. Based on a circular economy model, the ETH Zurich spin-off offers "Vertical Farming as a Service" - a turnkey solution enabling customers to create, operate and market their vertical farms and products. YASAI empowers its customers to grow more with less and contributes to the creation of circular food production systems in cities and regions lacking sufficient agricultural resources such as fresh water or fertile arable land.
