2023-06-30 19:08:00
Contents
For many people, coffee is part of everyday life. From an ecological point of view, substitute products such as lupine coffee or grain coffee would be better.
Switching on the coffee machine first thing in the morning or getting a coffee to go on the way – for many this is normal. According to the industry association Cafetier Suisse, the Swiss drink almost 1,100 cups per person per year. The downside: tons of coffee beans are imported from distant countries like Brazil or Colombia.
If you want to do without conventional coffee for ecological reasons, you will find regional alternatives. These can also be interesting for people who quickly become jittery because of the caffeine in coffee.
What alternatives are there in Switzerland?
The choice is large. Chicory coffee, for example, was particularly common in the past. Because bean coffee was long considered a luxury product and was too expensive for many people before the economic boom in the 1950s.
The substitute product is obtained from the roots of the chicory plant. Coffee is also made from different types of grain, for example from barley, spelled or rye grains. And acorns can also be processed into coffee.
Younger companies are also entering the market for coffee substitutes. For example, Kerngrün from Zurich, which plants lupins in the region and produces coffee from the seeds of the legumes.
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Caption: Lupines from the Kerngrün company grow in a field near Saturdayern near the border to Canton Schwyz. SRF/Luca Fuchs
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Legend: The lupine coffee can be prepared with a piston machine as well as with a coffee maker. SRF/Luca Fuchs
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Legend: Anita Leuthold and Nicolas De Girardi are part of the Kerngrün team. SRF/Luca Fuchs
What distinguishes the alternatives from coffee beans?
One of the most important differences is that the coffee alternatives are usually decaffeinated. They are also gentler on the stomach than the original. And of course there are also differences in taste: lupine coffee, for example, is less bitter than coffee beans. It tastes sweet and nutty.
How well are the alternatives received?
New producers are entering the business with coffee alternatives, as the example of the company Kerngrün from Zurich shows. However, the products cannot currently assert themselves once morest coffee beans.
Migros, for example, states that it currently has two replacement products in its range. “These are niche products,” writes Migros on request. At Coop, too, demand is currently still low.
According to the retailer, however, this is likely to change: “We expect the demand for coffee alternatives to increase in the future.” They already have various replacement products.
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