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Gutsch - the Swiss organic oat drink

Written by Philipp Schallberger am 13. November 2021

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In November 2021, the Gutsch cooperative launched the first Swiss organic oat drink specifically developed for coffee beverages. We co-founded the cooperative together with other coffee companies. In doing so, we are taking a stand for Swiss organic agriculture, more conscious consumption, and meaningful collaboration with other businesses.

"Water from Schlieren instead of Sweden" was the internal Gutsch motto for a long time, until it started making the rounds more and more and eventually served as an icebreaker with interested parties. An oat drink consists of approx. 90% water, the rest is processed oats, oil, salt, and in the case of Gutsch, red algae. Soyana in Schlieren near Zurich bottles the drink for Gutsch, which is also where the water originates.

The oat drinks, which are highly valued especially in the specialty coffee industry, come in large numbers from England, Sweden, or Denmark. The oat drink market is currently moving very quickly and diversifying more and more; every year, more products come onto the market.

In Switzerland, Soyana products are very widespread; we have also served them for years at Café Frühling and at the Kaffeemacher Café at the SBB in Basel. Emmi recently launched an oat drink with Swiss oats (not organic) under the name Beleaf, and according to industry experts, more drinks are expected to hit the market.

So, it was little surprise that we received a rejection from a major organic retailer early on with Gutsch , stating that they were not interested in reselling it. Fortunately—as this significantly shaped the approach of Gutsch. We had to find channels other than reselling to wholesalers.

Oat drink from Switzerland - still extremely rare

Gutsch is not the first organic oat drink with Swiss oats—the drink from Lebenshof Aurelio quickly won many fans, as did the oat drink from Biohof Hübeli. These projects were the first in Switzerland to use organic oats. There will likely be more products soon, and above all, the market is now becoming interesting for larger bottlers as well.

With Gutsch, we had a clear focus: we wanted to enter the catering industry—we wanted to go where we ourselves had a need. Where we have contacts, where we knew the requirements for an oat drink in the coffee industry. So, we took the suitable alternative into our own hands. And Gutsch had to be organic—that was always clear.

Photo: Boris Müller, from the Tagesanzeiger Instagram channel

Focusing on the catering industry

With Gutsch, we established in our statutes that we would not enter the classic retail sector. The first inquiry from a supermarket came just six days after the launch—the need for a Swiss organic oat drink is therefore clearly there.

To be able to sell the large volumes of a private label production at all, we served the catering channels from the very beginning. This allowed us to supply various cafés and restaurants with the first three test runs of 50,000 liters and gather direct, unfiltered feedback. One week after the launch in November 2021, we were already able to supply over 30 establishments with Gutsch. All establishments serving Gutsch are members of the cooperative—that is a condition.

The Gutsch Cooperative as the foundation

We decided on the cooperative model because we see Gutsch as a community project. Equal rights, equal number of votes, plenty of grassroots democracy. Membership in the cooperative is obtained with a share certificate of 500 CHF (companies) or 250 CHF (patrons). This model of issuing share certificates served as our startup capital. We tried not to set up Gutsch like a food startup. Thus, the model of external investment was dropped. Likewise, we wanted the people at the helm of Gutsch to be the ones who support Gutsch—and those are the cooperative members.

Soyana - the private label bottler for Gutsch

Within a year, Gutsch was market-ready. From the first conversations with Soyana, to finding the recipe, to the design, to setting up the supply chain. Leading the way were Philipp Schallberger (Kaffeemacher:innen) and Mathias Bühler from the Adrianos coffee roastery in Bern.

Soyana is a pioneer for plant-based drinks in Switzerland. Founder Walter Dänzer was a friend of the Gutsch project from the start and is now a cooperative member himself.

Gutsch Soyana

Soyana Managing Director Walter Dänzer in conversation with Sascha Britsko from the Tages-Anzeiger

The article from the Tagesanzeiger of Nov 5th can be accessed via this link: Gutsch Reportage

The design - graduation project by Sara Dietrich

With Gutsch, we wanted to take different paths, including in design. Sara was just before her bachelor's degree at the Design & Art University in Lucerne. We got in touch with Sara and she took on Gutsch. Sara designed the entire brand language, the typography, the corporate design, the website, and: the "actual" packaging.

Gutsch Sara Dietrich

But why does Gutsch just look white now?

As so often, there are technical reasons. The minimum order quantity for custom packaging is several hundred thousand. We did not want to make that investment and looked for alternatives. The white pack is now the blank provided to us by the manufacturer. The feedback from production was mixed, that it "does look quite special"—that's when we knew it was right.

Sara Dietrich's entire work can be viewed here.

Will we ever fill Gutsch into Sara's packs?

The white pack is a stopgap solution that we have grown to like very much. It is simply different. However, Sara's packaging is the goal—the more you all drink Gutsch, the closer we get to filling Gutsch in the future into Sara's Tetrapaks, inspired by Swiss industrial design of the 1970s.

Gutsch - where to buy? And how expensive is Gutsch?

The Gutsch cooperative sells to its cooperative members
Cooperative members serve Gutsch in their establishments and/or can resell Gutsch to private individuals.
List of retail outlets

Prices for end consumers range between 3.70 to 3.95 CHF/l. Each establishment decides the sales price within this range for itself, based on its own expenses.

The sales price of Gutsch to cooperative members varies between 2.40 CHF/l to 2.80 CHF/l, depending on the quantity ordered.

The Gutsch Cooperative

More benefit for everyone—that's what we decided at Gutsch . The more companies participate in Gutsch, the better the conditions for everyone. That is the goal of a cooperative. On our website, we write:

Together we go further. The more people who participate in the Gutsch cooperative, the more attractive we can make the framework conditions for everyone. The cooperative has the signal effect of a movement. The more cafés in Switzerland join forces for the same cause, the more incentives for the production of organic oats will be created. And we all benefit from that.