250,000 croissants per year > The Vital Speisehaus AG now also owns the second biggest Demeter bakery in Switzerland

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 26 October 2022

The Vital Speisehaus organic bakery has extended its premises to 750 square metres. What started as a small bakery catering for the company‘s own needs has grown into an enterprise employing eleven bakers who produce a million items a year of a range of 230 products. Sourdough bread baked in a wood-fired oven is a the latest addition to this range.

The Vital Speisehaus, a joint-stock company, includes a restaurant, a cafeteria and event catering, an organic shop and boutique near the Goetheanum, and the organic bakery which is now the part of the business with the highest turnover. It delivers its organic and Demeter products to health-food shops, cafés, hotels, to 42 Coop stores in and around Basel and Bern and to Alnatura stores in Switzerland. Thanks to the wholesale company Bio Partner, the bakery‘s products are available across the country.

“The way we produce baked goods has not changed as a result of the extension and increased production,” says Vital Speisehaus‘ managing director Lucas Didden. “All our products continue to be hand-made and we only use Demeter-standard flour.” The bakery is subject to the regulations and control of Demeter Switzerland and Bio-Suisse.

Fermented bread is one of the bakery‘s specialties. It is particularly well tolerated due to the gentle fermentation process applied in its production. The dough is given up to 72 hours for this process and special mixers are used for kneading. What is new is that the sourdough bread is baked in a wood-fired oven. The Vital Speisehaus bakery is the only one in Switzerland to produce the buttery croissants in Demeter quality.

Healthy working conditions are also important to Thomas Didden and Lucas Didden, the managing directors of Vital Speisehaus. The new production premises are on the second floor of an industrial complex and allow the bakers to work in daylight. To avoid monotony, a two-shift system has been introduced to make sure that they alternate their activities and hours during the working day.

(2004 characters/SJ; English by Margot M. Saar)

Contact person Lucas Didden