R i i c o l a a!

Having the president himself sign up for a tour is an undeniable badge of honour for the Trips Team. Jan-Willem was indeed one of the fifteen Centrepoint members who took part in the tour of the Ricola Herb Center in Laufen on 9th July. The meeting point was the production premises reception building on Wahlenstrasse and we had just finished the sign-in procedure when our guide, Veronika Ziemke, came out to welcome us. After some words of introduction, and naturally the offer of one of Ricola’s classic herb drops, she took us first to the model herb garden and from there, following a path through a grove of hazelnut trees, to the Herb Center (fig. 1), one of the many buildings that Ricola had designed by local heroes Herzog & de Meuron. The tour was informative, entertaining, and fun as you tell from the feedback below:

My husband and I truly enjoyed the visit and had a great time. The way Ricola’s history was explained during the tour was very engaging. We also loved the garden area where the herbs used in Ricola products were displayed; it was a beautiful and thoughtful addition. The interactive question‑and‑answer format made the experience even more enjoyable.—Derya & Tayfun D.

What I learned: The name Ricola was derived from the first two letters of the original company name—RIchterich & Companie LAufen. Ricola manufactures all their products in a very modern facility in Laufen, which employs 500 people and churns out a staggering 9 billion herb drops (“Bommeli” in the local dialect) per year split amongst 60 different flavours and shipped to 45 countries. Ricola sources their herbs from 100 Swiss mountain farms in compliance with Bio Suisse standards. Its world-famous herbal mixture includes Horehound, Burnet, Speedwell, Marshmallow, Lady’s Mantle, Elder, Mallow, Peppermint, Sage, Yarrow, Cowslip, Ribwort Plantain, and Thyme (see fig. 2).—Roxane B.

My highlights:

• Discovering the fascinating power of herbs
• Being amazed by the careful and elaborate production process
• Seeing a unique building made of loam—Cristina S.

The Ricola tour gave us a fascinating glimpse into the care and thought behind a wonderful Swiss product, covering the company’s origins and history, the rammed-earth building we visited and the extensive quality-control processes we learned about. We were especially impressed by the collaboration with Swiss farmers to source pure ingredients. What a great way to uphold the founder’s ideals while growing the company to reach a global market! And all from little Laufen in Baselland!—Anita B. & Tom F.

What an absolutely fascinating and informative tour depicting the vision of the Richterich family! The thirteen alpine herbs and their journey to becoming a “Bommeli” is indeed intriguing and was very well explained by our tour guide, Veronika. She was fantastic.—Debbie B.

I particularly loved the way that Ricola tries to be sustainable, working with Swiss farmers, Swiss architects, keeping as much of the production process as local as possible to keep local people in employment, using organic ingredients, etc. The Herb Center building is a prime example, designed and built by Swiss architects using locally sourced building materials and workforce, recycling heat from the manufacturing plant, etc. And it was a beautiful building, too. Rammed earth—who knew?!

I’ll never eat a Ricola “Bommeli” in the same way again!—Marjorie H.

By Bronwen Saunders, Talks Coordinator