Draft:Frigemo

Frigemo AG, based in Bern, is a Swiss food manufacturer. The company, which is part of the Fenaco Group, produces and markets fresh, refrigerated and frozen products for the catering and retail trade. The product range includes potato products, pasta, ready-made meals, eggs, vegetables, fruit, salads as well as finger food.

Frigemo is the market leader in Switzerland in the manufacturing of chilled and frozen potato products and one of the largest egg trading companies.

In addition to Frigemo AG with production sites in Cressier, Bern, Märstetten, Mellingen and Zollikofen, the Frigemo Group also includes several trading companies. The group employs a total of 850 people and in 2008 generated sales of 450 million Swiss francs. The core is Frigemo AG with 600 employees and a turnover of 300 million francs.

History
CISAC SA was founded in Cressier in Neuchâtel in 1943 and initially produced fodder flakes. In 1949, CISAC SA was taken over by VLG Bern. In 1961 the production of food items from potatoes was started; Knorr launched Stocki, an instant mashed potato brand, which Frigemo is still producing today. Pre-fried french fries were launched in 1966. With a stake of 50% each, VOLG and VLG Bern founded Frigemo AG in Cressier in 1974, and, through cooperations in the companies Haller AG in Mellingen (frozen vegetables) and Caprez-Danuser AG in Chur (frozen and dry pasta), frozen vegetables and pasta were added. The two companies were founded in 1946 and in 1841. Frigemo has been the exclusive French fries supplier to McDonald's Switzerland since 1976.

The merger of agricultural co-operative associations at the end of 1993 created Fenaco, under whose umbrella the company, trading under the name Frigemo, was incorporated into, with its headquarters located in Bern. From the second half of the 1990s, various food retailers and, in 2003, EiCO AG, one of the largest egg retailers in Switzerland with locations in Bern and Märstetten, were taken over. As a result of the merger with EiCO AG, Cressier-based Frigemo SA was dissolved and EiCO AG was renamed Frigemo AG. In 2005, the Lusso-Glacen sales team was integrated into the Gourmador sales team based in Zollikofen, and the frozen food business of Unilever Schweiz GmbH based in Thayngen was taken over. In 2000, the McCain brand was licensed for the whole of Switzerland. In 2006, the production facility in Weinfelden was closed and the entire potato production was relocated to Cressier. In 2013, a new deep-freeze warehouse with space for around 1000 pallets was put into operation in Zollikofen.

The company has been managed by Beat Wittmer since 1 January 2017. A new potato storage hall was put into operation in Payerne in 2018; the previous one in Bargen is now used for carrots. On 1 January 2019, Culturefood (CFD SA) based in Freiburg and Berger SA based in Marly were taken over. Krenger FGT AG from Uetendorf was also taken over and dissolved after merging with Frigemo AG. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for french fries collapsed in 2020, leaving farmers with less to produce in 2021.