Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink”, as the famous poem goes.
Water is at the heart of today’s briefing. Nestlé is spinning off its water business, Swiss livestock farmers continue to grapple with the effects of the dry summer, vineyards across the country have been battered by apricot-sized hail, and there is a warning for anyone planning to head into the mountains this summer.
Sunny regards from Bern
New allegations of abuse have emerged in the case against a former Aargau politician, with a third woman now having come forward: the man’s ex-wife also claims to have been drugged, raped and filmed over many years, in a case drawing comparisons with that of Gisèle Pelicot in France.
As we reported in yesterday’s briefing, the former Swiss People’s Party politician has been indicted for allegedly sexually assaulting his partner and her daughter, abusing the girl from the age of 14. The mother and daughter gave evidence on Monday, with the daughter saying she had been unaware of being repeatedly drugged. She later told the Tages-Anzeiger: “I am only now learning that I could have died several times”.
Now, court documents obtained by Swiss public broadcaster SRF allege that the man’s former wife was also a victim. The indictment accuses him of drugging her with GHB or GBL before assaulting her more than 140 times between 2008 and 2021. He is also alleged to have repeatedly ordered large quantities of sedatives and sleeping pills online, reportedly from Cambodia.
Investigators subsequently seized hundreds of hours of video footage allegedly showing the assaults.
The case has drawn further attention because, in August 2023, the ex-politician supported a motion calling for tougher penalties for paedophiles. As reported by the Tages-Anzeiger, he criticised canton Aargau for not consistently enforcing employment bans on convicted paedophiles.
The 57-year-old has been in custody since 2023 and faces charges including multiple counts of attempted murder, aggravated rape, aggravated sexual coercion, indecent assault and sexual acts with children.
Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence. The defendant denies most of the charges.
Nestlé has announced the spin-off of its bottled water business into a new €4.9 billion (CHF4.56 billion) joint venture with US private equity firm Platinum Equity. Each partner will hold a 50% stake in the new company.
The company, named Peranel, will include more than 30 brands, including S.Pellegrino, Perrier and Henniez, with a customer base across 120 countries.
In a company press release, Nestlé CEO Philippe Navratil said: “By partnering with Platinum Equity, Peranel will be better positioned to execute its strategy with enhanced agility.”
Nestlé has long sought to reduce its exposure to its water division, subject to weaker-than-expected growth and regulatory challenges. In France, the company admitted using prohibited mineral water treatment methods and paid €2 million in 2024 to avoid criminal proceedings.
Peranel will be based in Paris and led by the CEO of Nestlé Waters, Muriel Lienau.
Separating the water business will allow Nestlé to “free up capital for future investment and refocus on higher-growth categories”, wrote industry publication Food Navigator.
Investors, however, have so far reacted cautiously. Nestlé shares ended the day at the bottom of the Swiss Market Index after giving up much of last week’s gains. While analysts welcomed the company’s cost controls and the partial sale of its water business, there were few positive surprises, according to Blue News.
Swiss agriculture can’t catch a break this summer. After weeks of drought forced farmers to cull livestock, severe storms have now battered vineyards and crops across the country.
In Graubünden, Zurich and Ticino, what Blick described as “extra-large” hailstones, some the size of apricots, damaged vineyards, including those protected by specialised netting. Some growers reported that up to half of this year’s harvest had been destroyed.
Livestock farmers are also struggling to sell their cattle. Animals are arriving at market underweight because of the drought, making buyers reluctant to purchase them. As a result, more farmers are sending cattle to slaughter earlier than planned. According to Proviande, the Swiss meat association, 1,353 more cattle were slaughtered last week than during the same week last year. Over the past month, more than 31,000 cattle have been slaughtered – around 3,500 more than during the wetter summer of 2025, reports Watson.
According to Swiss People’s Party parliamentarian and alpine herdsman Ernst Wandfluh, many farmers are selling cattle because they fear prices will collapse. The resulting oversupply pushes prices even lower, creating a cycle of panic selling. Farmers are now calling on the federal government to suspend tariffs on imported hay.
There is little sign of quick relief for either livestock farmers or winegrowers. Rainfall patterns in Switzerland are changing. Instead of prolonged periods of rain, short but increasingly intense downpours are becoming more common.
“It doesn’t necessarily rain more often, but when it does, it’s often very intense over a short period. In between, there are longer dry spells,” weather expert Peter Wick told 20 Minuten.
Federviti, the canton Ticino winegrowers’ association, warns that damaged vines are now more vulnerable to disease and pests.
Changing rainfall patterns are also reshaping Switzerland’s mountain landscape, prompting the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) to warn hikers that some routes have become significantly more dangerous.
Many Swiss Abroad return home during the summer to enjoy one of the country’s favourite pastimes: hiking through the Alps and taking in the spectacular scenery often featured on the satirical Reddit group “Switzerland Is Fake”.
While the dry weather may seem like a blessing for those planning hiking trips, it is creating new hazards on Switzerland’s usually well-maintained mountain trails.
Severin Karrer, head of mountain sports training at the SAC, says the warm conditions have melted the protective snow covering many glaciers, increasing the risk of falling into crevasses that were previously hidden. The exposed glacier ice is also far more slippery, while retreating snow leaves more unstable rock faces exposed, increasing the danger of rockfalls.
Karrer warns that even experienced hikers should not rely on previous knowledge of familiar routes, as conditions have changed dramatically this summer.
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