Migros cuts prices of 1,000 products; Zurich MPs proposal to turn deceased into compost; Swiss cheese draped in fabric to ripen quicker

News for 29 October 2024

Starting this week, over 60 types of fruits and vegetables are becoming cheaper in all branches of Switzerland's largest supermarket chain, the company announced.

Prices on other 940 products will be slashed gradually over the next months.

And according to Migros CEO, Mario Irminger, this is a selfless move on the company’s part.

“We are consciously accepting the fact that our profit will decline. As a cooperative, Migros does not seek to maximise its profits,” he said.

Irminger also added that cuts in price of produce and other agricultural goods, “is in no way to the detriment of the farming community and producers.”

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In Zurich, as elsewhere in Switzerland, only burial and cremation are allowed.

However, the cantonal parliament is now debating a motion submitted by a citizen, asking that the ‘composting’ method be introduced as well. This happens when the dead body is placed in a closed metal 'cocoon with straw, hay, herbs, and flowers.

This method is considered to be more eco-friendly, because in six weeks, a dead body will turn into humus — a dark, organic material in soil that is created when plant and animal matter decomposes and is mixed with soil, on which new vegetation can grow.

“In this way, the body becomes the basis for new life,” the motion explains, calling for the Zurich government to set up several human composting centres.

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Agroscope, the government centre for agricultural research, has patented a new cheese ripening process, which involves wrapping the cheeses in a biodegradable textile once the salt bath is over.

The fabric can be easily removed once the cheese is fully ripened.

"A small part of the microflora remains on the cheese, which allows it to retain its typical orange-brown rind," Agroscope said.

With the new invention, Switzerland may very well have the world's best-dressed cheeses.