The supermarkets go through distributors who buy from the big brands mostly. (I guess). There are only a limited amount of options for you to sell in "large quantities" and they include COOP, Migros, Manor, Globus, etc.

Your best bet would be to go with Manor and Globus. They are more interested in quality speciality products although they already carry Greek olive oil. You have to start somewhere. I'd start with those two. Call them up and talk to them.

Your other option, which will take much more work but they will probably be more receptive, is to target either the smaller gourmet distributors or the smaller gourmet shops.

Good luck!


Clearly that's not true or this problem wouldn't be so prevalent in the olive oil industry.
& I buy olive oil that I consume myself.

No one is saying YOUR olive oil has this problem. In fact the more non-crappy olive oil that enters the market the better. Sadly not everyone is aware of what is going on in the olive oil industry.

Yes and most of them are made in Germany by Gazi.

5L cans, which are alreadt sealed . thank you for the advice above!

I was talking about the 5L as a quantity. Most families in CH would buy 1L at a time so you would only be talking about "heavy" users who might be tempted by a 5L size. So regular retail would be a challenge.

What sort of prices?

We use a lot, I get worried if my stock gets below 5 liters, but I buy most in Italy, usually on the way to visit friends or relatives (though my wife used to live 100m from the Gaggiolo border and we'd just walk across).

Tom

In fact, as at least 40% of the households in Zurich are inhabited by singles, we are realistically talking about 0.5l rather than 5.0 liters...

For my salad, I use a good spoon full per portion - but that's it.
If it was cheap enough, I might even use a good oil for cooking - but I'm not going to use a 50CHF/l organic oil (that's what I pay at Egli) for frying onions and meat....

As for selling to restaurants - those who would actually use good oil and pay a price for it usually have established business-relationships with suppliers dating back years - they are not going to jeopardize those easily.
At least, that's what these people claim when being asked by newspapers ;-)

I agree with those points, and Swiss business is conservative at best. I really think the OP should consider something else. "Olive oil has been done to death"

no not the can being sealed closed - its " seal of approval"

I can't see 5L cans selling, get them in beautiful half liter bottles with a very well designed label and enticing brand name and, as long as the oil is excellent, you'll have a chance to sell it.

Sorry, I missed this point. If your (Lakes) oil comes ONLY in 5L containers you'll find it very difficult to sell on the Swiss market. They just don't buy/let alone use it in those quantities. The oil would go bad in most Swiss households.

You could as Verbier says above sell it at Aligro or to restaurants, but Manor & Globus wont' buy those. So, I think you are in a bit of a pickle.

For the Swiss market, I'd go for bottling in 0.5l and brand it as a special/upmarket oil.

My thoughts as well.

Migros already has excellent Greek oil at less than italian prices, and as mentioned Aldi and probably Coop has it as well.

The way to make some money is to add value by packaging and promoting its quality and purity.

The other way to possibly make it work i sell to HORECA in bulk, undercutting traditional distribution by selling direct to restaurants, etc. This way you can keep the original packaging, and keep overheads low without spending anything on marketing. Pick a city and start doing the legwork...

In case you do not know

HORECA = Hotel/Restaurant/Café

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horeca

Thanks Verbier, I should have been more clear.

Another option might be door to door at office buildings and institutions, etc.

I know someone who brings in 5l cans from her family's farm in france and she was able to quickly sell at least a score of them in a few days when she approached a company I was working for. All strictly cash and under the table, I am not endorsing this practice, just mentioning it.

Another way to go is through weekly markets in towns, working with existing stall-holders.

I've PM'ed you Verbier- was wondering if we've met before.