Unilever is opening its production facilities at the Schaffhausen site to start-ups from the food sector. This will create an ecosystem around the topics of nutrition and food production. Unilever is thus investing further in the Schaffhausen site.

On the site of the traditional “Knorr” factory in Thayngen, an ecosystem is being created around the topics of nutrition and food production. It is designed to develop and scale-up novel technologies and solutions for the future of food and nutrition. Unilever Switzerland and Alphorn Venture Partners (AVP) have joined forces for this ambitious project. AVP works with start-ups on new disruptive nutrition concepts, such as precision fermentation or cell-based foods. At the Knorr site, Unilever will in future contribute its expertise in nutrition and food production to the planned collaboration. The combination of many years of experience of a leading consumer goods manufacturer and innovative, agile founders offers great opportunities for the Thayngen location, says Thierry Mousseigne, General Manager Unilever Switzerland. “In the future, not only will the well-known and popular Knorr products for Switzerland come from Thayngen, but innovative nutrition concepts will also be researched under the same roof.” In the long term, this will create an ecosystem with young and established companies, university research, investors and funding programmes.

“Unique environment for innovation”

The economic development agency of the canton of Schaffhausen is also involved in the transformation process. “The cooperation between Unilever and AVP creates a unique environment for innovation and collaboration around the topics of nutrition and food production,” says Schaffhausen Economic Development Officer Christoph Schärrer. State Councillor Dino Tamagni is also pleased: “The project exemplifies the efforts of the Canton of Schaffhausen to establish itself as a region of application for future-oriented technologies.”