The man who helped mould Emmi into Switzerland’s largest dairy marketing group, driving sales up from CHF 496 million in 1992 to CHF 2.6 billion last year, has been appointed honorary chairman of the group in recognition of his business successes.
Fritz Wyss (pictured), born in 1944, came to the then regional Swiss dairy Emmi as CEO 48 years later after a successful early career heading up firms in Switzerland such as Alfa Laval, and chocolate makers Frey.
The trained food engineer was then behind the steady development of Emmi into a world player, introducing international sales hits such as Benecol, the yogurt drink for lowering the cholesterol level and Swiss Alp, the first cheese ever marketed with an eatable rind of herbs.
In 2004, came Emmi’s most successful product ever: the dairy drink Caffe Latte. Wyss has led the group as president of the advisory administrative board over the last few years. Taking over the chair of that body is now Konrad Graber who has been a board member since 2006.