Edwin Baer (entrepreneur)

Edwin Baer (born November 17, 1879 in Schönbuch near Bambergen ; † January 6, 1949 in Küssnacht ) was a Swiss entrepreneur .

biography

As a trained farmer , Baer worked on his parents' farm until he was 30 years old. He then immigrated to Switzerland, where he managed various farms, including "Geistlich Söhne" in Wolhusen . He was also naturalized in this community. In 1922 Nestlé closed its condensed milk plant in Cham , which meant that many dairy farmers in the region, including Küssnacht , lost their main customers. Baer, ​​who had meanwhile worked as a businessman, founded a cheese dairy in Küssnacht in the same year in order to process the milk that had suddenly become excess.

Unlike what is common in central Switzerland , however, Baer did not produce hard or semi-hard cheese . Instead, he was one of the first cheese makers in Switzerland to produce soft cheese based on the French model. In the economic crisis after the First World War, sales were initially low. This changed when the dairy was able to win the Allgemeine Consumverein in Basel (predecessor of Coop ) as a major customer. As a result, the dairy was continuously expanded and modernized. In 1943 the company achieved sales of more than one million francs for the first time. After the company's founder died, his son of the same name took over the business.

literature

• Michael von Orsouw: The cheese in five pieces. Announcements of the Historical Association of the Canton of Schwyz, 2008, p. 353 , accessed on November 11, 2018 . 

Web links

• Erwin Horat: Baer, ​​Edwin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Website of the cheese dairy