SwissFamilyMilk – our bonus programme
With our bonus system ‘SwissFamilyMilk’, we are actively promoting sustainable milk production. Milk producers who show dedication to local production and animal welfare receive a premium on the price of their milk. Nowadays, consumers want to know where their food products came from and how they were made. With the SwissFamilyMilk programme, we want to provide this added value to our consumers.
Our bonus system actively urges producers to work more efficiently – very much in line with the concept of ‘turning extra work into extra value’. Since March 2018, we have been rewarding a bonus of up to six percent to milk producers that produce their milk locally, have animal welfare measures in place, keep their animals healthy while using fewer antibiotics, use resources efficiently and use company-owned feed and/or meadow forage. In addition to architectural and energy-saving measures, and the education and training of apprentices and employees, communicative issues are also taken into consideration: farms receive points for opening up their barns to visitors and giving their cows names. The goal is to increase the sustainability of our family business.
Core messages of SwissFamilyMilk
Partnership
Farmers work with milk processors to set common goals for a sustainable future that benefits everyone: the environment, the consumers and the producers.
Family businesses
Züger supports family-run farms. Family businesses train apprentices, meaning they pass on their expertise to the next generation. We reward businesses that provide care services for elderly or disabled people on their farmland and therefore make a valuable contribution to society.
Every cow has a name
We treat all of our cows with respect. That’s why every one of them has a name. The farmers know their animals better than anyone else.
Local milk production
Our milk is an average of 40 km from the Oberbüren processing site, as the crow flies. It is collected every two days by milk tankers on various routes, stopping at farms and loading up the chilled milk. Whenever Züger takes on a new milk supplier, we make sure that the farm is located on an existing collection route, for environmental reasons.
Access to grazing pasture
We encourage suppliers to give our cows access to grazing pastures and clean water. We reward suppliers that participate in the government animal welfare programme RAUS ‘regular outdoor livestock management’. This programme ensures the cows spend at least 26 days per month between 1 May and 31 October grazing outdoors on a pasture. On the pasture, our cows are given fresh water and shady areas to protect them from excessive sunshine.
Animal welfare
The welfare of our cows is our top priority. From housing to the number of milkings to small comforts like a scratching brush or regular hoof care: we want our animals to have everything they need. In order to keep the barns at a comfortable temperature during the vegetation period, our farmers use fans or remove all of the window panes. We also encourage suppliers to participate in the government animal welfare programme BTS (ethical indoor animal housing systems). Ethical indoor animal housing systems (BTS) include multi-area housing systems where animals are kept in groups and are free to rest, move around and amuse themselves in a fashion attuned to their natural habits.
GM-free
The feed comes directly from the pasture or is produced, to as great an extent as possible, locally and in an environmentally friendly way. We don’t use any genetically modified, concentrated feed.
Using resources efficiently
From energy to water, we use our resources sparingly and invest in sustainable and environmentally friendly measures. We support waste heat recovery systems in milk cooling processes, the collection and use of rainwater, semi-autonomous energy supply systems that use photovoltaic or natural gas plants and a recycling system for silo bale wraps.