History
BachserMärt, initially a village shop, was established in 2008 in the agriculturally dominated Bachser Valley 20km north of Zurich. Today BachserMärt operates five individual grocery shops and a warehouse around Zurich.
The shops feature a wide assortment of items that are sourced directly from local farmers, cheese makers, bakers, craftsmen, small scale manufacturers and local culinary experts.
BachserMärt employs around 50 people and welcomes 30 apprentices to acquire training in a socio-pedagogical setting.
In the summer of 2008 Patrick Honauer took over the village shop in Bachs and refurbished it with an intention to secure food supply in the village, promote organic produce and support local farmers. This laid the foundation of the very first BachserMärt. More than 30 farmers joined hands with Patrick in his mission. BachserMärt also became an associate partner of axisBildung and started a socio-pedagogically supported apprenticeship program for young people.
In 2009 the second BachserMärt opened in Zurich Albisrieden – the first urban counterpart to the shop in rural Bachs.
In 2010, in Bülach, as part of the BachserMärt Ltd. founded in the same year, BachserMärt Logistics was established to meet the growing transportation and storage demands of the shops. The logistics team later moved to a bigger warehouse in Zurich Altstetten in 2011. The vocational training also expanded and started offering vocational training in logistics.
Between 2010 and 2013, BachserMärt operated a large market stall in the Viadukt market hall in Zurich. Here many people in Zurich got to know us for the first time.
BachserMärt Eglisau opened its doors in April 2013. The cooperative Genossenschaft Vier Jahreszyte Eglisau financed the shop infrastructure. In 2013 we also took over the organic food shop Paradiesli, today’s BachserMärt Seefeld. We run the shop on our own account in cooperation with the Paradiesli cooperative .
In 2014 we opened BachserMärt Kalkbreite in the innovative and sustainable development of the Kalkbreite area in Zurich’s 3rd district. The largest of the five BachserMärt shops rapidly profiled itself through a large selection of unpackaged bulk goods and dining culture events with Laura Schälchli from SobreMesa.
In 2019, BachserMärt opened the first POT in Zurich Altstetten together with the bio-dynamic farm Gut Rheinau. POT is neighborhood-based kitchen and pantry combined into a single unit. The aim is to establish a model for a socially and environmentally sustainable food supply in neighborhoods.