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ZFV-Unternehmungen history
ZFV-Unternehmungen company history timeline
Founded in 1894 by visionary Zurich townswomen, ZFV is aware of its responsibility and is committed to creating measurable added value for guests, employees, customers, partners and society.
1897 Rütli – the first hotel When it took over Hotel Rütli at the entrance to Zurich’s Niederdorf district, ZFV started out in the hotel business just a few years after its establishment.
After an intensive 15-month building program, they are ready: the hotel Zuerichberg is opened on 01 September 1900 as an alcohol-free public house and spa.
1908 Way ahead of her time Susanna Orelli was way ahead of her time, not only in terms of her catering services.
1910 First name change The «Frauenverein für Mässigkeit und Volkswohl» (Women’s Association for Temperance and National Welfare) was renamed as the «Zürcher Frauenverein für alkoholfreie Wirtschaften» (Zurich Women’s Association for Alcohol-Free Public Houses).
1910 Takeover of the Volkshaus am Helvetiaplatz After several years of preparation, the alcohol-free Volkshaus am Helvetiaplatz was opened in 1910.
In 1914, ZFV started out in institutional catering and took over the canteen in the recently constructed college building of the University of Zurich.
1919 Award of honorary doctorate to Susanna Orelli On 21 May 1919, the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich awarded an honorary doctorate to Susanna Orelli.
Fixed monthly salary instead of tips 10-hour day 1 free day per month plus half a free day per week Leave of up to 4 weeks once or twice a year Sickness and accident insurance paid by the employer Old age provision long before AHV old-age insurance was introduced in 1948
Rosmarie Michel was elected to the Board of Directors of ZFV in 1970.
1973 Commissioning of the central bakery in Dübendorf In 1973, ZFV opened its own central bakery in Dübendorf.
1975 The advent of men At a turbulent annual general meeting in 1975, the decision was taken to include men in the Board of Directors and the executive board of ZFV. However, the presidency continued to remain the preserve of women.
When Adelheid Fischer was forced to give up the presidency in 1979 for health reasons, Rosmarie Michel became her successor.
1989 Nomination of Rosmarie Michel as permanent guest of honour of the University of Zurich On 29 April 1989, Rosmarie Michel was nominated permanent guest of honour of the University of Zurich
1990 Second name change The second name change followed almost 100 years after the foundation of the cooperative business society.
On 1 January 1993, Eric Kündig was replaced as chairman of the executive board by food chemist Doctor Sigrid Viehweg.
1994 Hundredth anniversary celebrations One hundred years after its foundation, ZFV had 41 operations at its disposal and employed a total of 498 people.
In the middle of 1995, Doctor Regula Pfister succeeded Doctor Sigrid Viehweg as chairman of the executive board.
After the turnaround she had succeeded in following on from the pioneering phase of Susanna Orelli and lending entrepreneurial momentum to ZFV. Since taking over the helm of the company in 1995, she more than quadrupled net sales and the number of employees.
1997 Starting to extend and expand When the Swiss Banking Association advertised for bids for its staff catering in 1997, ZFV succeeded in achieving its first great coup after the crisis.
1998 Award of Social and Cultural prize In 1998, ZFV for the first time awarded the Social and Cultural Prize worth CHF 100,000 to institutions, establishments or projects in social and cultural fields.
In 2000, the UBS AG company commissioned the company to manage a further six restaurants – two each in Bern and Basel and one each in St Gallen and Zurich.
The building is completely hollowed out and remodelled before reopening in March 2001.
2001 Change of presidency from Rosmarie Michel to Doctor Regula Pfister After 31 years of membership of the Board of Directors, during which time she held office as president for 22 years, Rosmarie Michel passed the baton to Doctor Regula Pfister at the Annual General Meeting held on 15 May 2001.
2002 Launch of the «Sorell Hotels Switzerland» brand To provide momentum to the expansion strategy in the hotels field, the «Sorell Hotels Switzerland» brand was created.
Launch of the Mishio concept In 2004, the first Mishio was opened in Sorell Hotel Seidenhof.
2005 Opening of a catering facility in the Paul Klee centre in Bern In June 2005 a catering facility was opened in the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern.
2006 Takeover of catering operations at the Verkehrshaus der Schweiz As of 1 July 2006, ZFV took over the catering operations at Verkehrshaus der Schweiz in Lucerne.
2007 Entry into the stadium catering market ZFV took over the catering operations at the Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich in September 2007.
The Galerie des Alpes restaurant in the converted parliament building in Bern was opened for the beginning of session at the end of November 2008.
In 2008, the value of the award was raised to CHF 400,000.
2009 Relocation to Flüelastrasse Since the headquarters at Mühlebachstrasse 86 in Zurich had for some time been bursting at the seams, relocation to the property at Flüelastrasse 51 in Zurich-Albisrieden took place in March 2009.
It remained the head office of ZFV until 2009.
2009 Two seminal acquisitions Due to its innovative powers, ZFV was entrusted – without a submission process – with the Cloud restaurant in the Gehry building on the Novartis Campus in Basel.
Entry into the trade fair catering market In 2010, ZFV took over the entire catering operations at the new exhibition centre of BERNEXPO in Bern.
ZFV lifts off At the beginning of May 2011, ZFV took over Inflight Catering at Bern-Belp airport and is thus now indulging flight passengers for the first time.
2012 Net sales threshold of 200 million francs exceeded It had taken 110 years to reach the net sales threshold of CHF 100 million.
2013 Doctor Regula Pfister hands the baton to Andreas Hunziker On 3 January 2013, Doctor Regula Pfister conceded her office as CEO to Andreas Hunziker after over 17 years.
Rämi 59 On 17 August 2015, the first completely vegetarian and vegan mensa in Switzerland was opened at the University of Zurich.
The independent entrepreneur as well as co-owner and board member of azinova group AG has been a member of the ZFV Board of Directors since 2015 and has broad and in-depth know-how, including expertise in the areas of gastronomy, the hotel industry as well as real estate and corporate development.
2016 Culinary flagship Above the roofs of the city on the ETH Hönggerberg campus, ZFV opened a new restaurant that is open to the public.
From the beginning of January until May 2017, all 39 rooms at the Hotel Krone were extensively renovated.
2017 Milestone In one fell swoop at the start of the year, ZFV took over 23 existing SBB staff restaurants throughout Switzerland.
2018 Opening of the Zum Äusseren Stand restaurant Since April of the reporting year, the Zum Äusseren Stand restaurant has been part of the ZFV Group.
Purchase of Hotel Merian On 1 October 2018, ZFV purchased the traditional Hotel Merian in Basel from the Christoph Merian Foundation.
2019 Handing over the baton of President of the Board of Directors At the General Meeting of the ZFV Group on 21st May 2019, Dr Regula Pfister handed over the presidency of the Board of Directors to Nadja Lang.
Platte 14 On 2 September 2019, after a short redesign phase, the cafeteria on Plattenstrasse 14 reopened.
2019 125 years of ZFV In 2019, ZFV celebrated its 125th anniversary under the motto "125 years of pioneering spirit". With numerous anniversary activities, the company thanked its staff, guests, clients and partners.
2020 A great job In January, ZFV launched the employer branding campaign «a great job» to position the company as an attractive employer and increase recognition.
2020 Opening of Sorell Hotel City Weissenstein The Sorell Hotel City Weissenstein close to St Gallen's Old Town opened its doors in July.
2020 New brasserie in the Swiss Museum of Transport In December, the «Brasserie» introduced a new gastronomic concept to the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.
Gabriela Dal Santo joined ZFV as CMO as of 1 June 2021.
2021 Additions to the Managing Board As part of organisational development and implementation of the new corporate strategy, ZFV's Board of Directors has decided to supplement the Managing Board.
Reopening of Hotel Seidenhof and Restaurant Enja The boutique hotel Seidenhof reopens at the beginning of March 2022 after several months of renovation as a lively meeting place in the heart of the city of Zurich.
In May 2022, the general assembly elected Esther von Ziegler as the new president of the board of directors of the ZFV-Unternehmungen cooperative.
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