Swiss meat substitute firm Planted sheds senior positions

Planted: Rapid growth is followed by staff cuts Keystone-SDA

Swiss meat substitute manufacturer Planted has reduced its workforce in recent months, particularly at management level.

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The company is talking about measures to increase efficiency.

Several managers have left Federal Institute of Technology Zurich spin-off Planted in the past nine months. They include the former head of communications, the head of sustainability, the head of quality, the head of marketing Switzerland and the Swiss head of production, as LinkedIn profiles show.

According to former employees, this is no coincidence: “Due to cost pressure, many experienced employees were replaced by young, inexperienced people or not replaced at all,” one person, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the news agency AWP. One of the reasons for this is the high cost of a new factory in Germany, which was opened last year.

According to the trade union newspaper Work, Planted currently employs around 150 people, 46 of whom work in production. At the end of 2025, the company said it employed 200 people – and by mid-2023, this figure had risen to around 240, meaning around 90 jobs have been lost over the last few years. The company has never reported a mass redundancy (10% or more of the workforce).

Structures reviewed

“After several years of very rapid growth, we systematically developed our organisation further last year and adapted it to the next phase,” said a spokesperson. Structures were reviewed and priorities sharpened.

“This also included personnel decisions that were not always easy for us,” she added. The company is now “more efficiently organised” and well positioned for sustainable growth. Demand for vegan products also remains strong.

+ More people giving up meat in Switzerland

Since its foundation in 2019, Planted has received a total of around CHF115 million from investors. Its backers include entrepreneur Stephan Schmidheiny, Swiss national team goalkeeper Yann Sommer and United States investor L Catterton.

The company has been producing in Kemptthal, canton Zurich, since 2021. In June 2025, a second factory was opened in Memmingen, Bavaria. This should double production capacity and create over 50 new jobs. According to the spokesperson, the majority of employees are still based in Switzerland.

Planted generates half of its turnover in the retail trade and the other half in restaurants. The products are available in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and Britain.

Adapted from German by AI/mga

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