A Swiss apple juice maker balancing profit with purpose

When two Swiss students went for a jog in the eastern Swiss region of St Gallen, they couldn’t help but notice the unpicked heaps of apples scattered across meadows, orchards and private gardens. Instead of letting them go to waste, they turned to another underused resource, people with disabilities, to pick the apples. Then they made juice.

That was the genesis of Gartengold, a socially and environmentally minded company to the core. Its business model is firmly anchored on the three Ps – profit, people planet – known in management circles as the Triple Bottom Line. That business concept is gaining traction in Switzerland, where more and more companies are getting B Corp Certification, recognition that they are successfully balancing profit with purpose.