"Together we brought organic out of its niche"

Philipp Wyss has been Chief Executive Officer of the Coop Group since May 2021. He has been working for the cooperative in various functions since 1997, including Head of Marketing/Purchasing. Coop and FiBL have been collaborating for 30 years.

As part of the long-standing partnership between Coop and FiBL, you have been working with FiBL for many years. Which projects stand out for you?

Exactly, FiBL and Coop have enjoyed a strong and strategic partnership since 1993. Since then, we have realised around 60 projects, which makes me very proud. I have particularly fond memories of the project to promote Swiss organic juicing fruit. We are contributing to further improving the complex cultivation and thus, ultimately, the yields. This project supports not only large fruit producers but also various farms with smaller orchards, which is important to me.

What is the importance of FiBL for Coop?

FiBL is very important for Coop, that much is clear. Together, with a lot of pioneering spirit and tenacity, we have been able to bring organically produced food out of its niche and make it accessible to a large audience in Switzerland. In addition, FiBL supports us in our search for innovative solutions, for example to realise our vision of reducing palm oil and using only certified organic palm oil.

What do you consider to be FiBL's greatest achievements over the past 50 years?

FiBL has managed to conduct high-level and dynamic research and development in organic agriculture, but it has never lost sight of relevance for practitioners. This way, FiBL creates benefits for the environment, farmers, enterprises and ultimately for society as a whole. 

What would you like to achieve together with FiBL in the future?

Fortunately, our own organic brand Naturaplan has already grown significantly this year. This shows that organic is and remains popular with consumers. In this respect it is very important for us to continue this path we have taken together and to continue developing organic products, especially in product diversity or by further improving product availability and quality.

What are your wishes for FiBL’s future?

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to warmly congratulate the whole team on its 50th anniversary, what a great achievement! It is very rewarding to know that we have a partner like FiBL by our side with its finger on the pulse. I wish that FiBL continues to have the same drive for research and its implementation in practice, so that we can continue to realise many wonderful projects together for the benefit of our customers and the environment.