Gaz Energy: Sustainability from production to supply

FELFEL provides excellent catering at the workplace throughout Switzerland. The family business attaches great importance to sustainability and therefore uses CNG Iveco. Life is too short for mediocre food - even at work. That is the idea behind FELFEL . That's why the multi-award-winning start-up has set itself the goal of supplying Swiss offices with food just like from their favorite restaurant. All that is needed is a FELFEL refrigerator in which the delicacies, snacks, drinks or even varied breakfasts are kept fresh until they are consumed. More than twelve local partner chefs now provide variety and a constant stream of new culinary delights.

The fast-growing family business, which now employs more than 100 people at its two locations in Lausanne and Zurich, as well as various partners throughout Switzerland, is passionately committed to fine dining, but also to greater sustainability. It is trying to reduce its ecological footprint footprint as small as possible and therefore thinks of sustainability in several dimensions. FELFEL To this end, it works together with local small and family businesses to supply and promote the best products from the region.

The company, run by founder Emanuel Steiner and co-CEO Anna Grassler, attaches great importance to fair wages and long-term partnerships. And the food that ends up in the fridge is basically classified as "healthy". To ensure that resources are used as sparingly as possible, the menus are packed in recyclable containers and the FELFEL refrigerators are equipped with an Iveco with CNG drive to their locations. Thanks to its CNG drive it is not only clearly quieter, but also emits up to 25 percent less CO2 compared to other combustion engines. Its nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions are even up to 95 percent lower. If you fill up with biogas you drive with the Iveco is almost CO2-neutral.

Luka and Lukas from the OPS team at FELFEL, the interface for organizing and monitoring all operational logistics processes, are currently strapping down a new FELFEL refrigerator so that nothing happens to the noble piece with the large glass pane and computer display on the side. Another Swiss office will soon be able to enjoy fine food instead of the same department store salad. Lukas drives off and says: "The two CNG Iveco are running perfectly." And his colleague Luka adds mischievously, "Sometimes you'd just like a little more torque, but we're very sustainable on the road."

A clever choice – which company founder and co-CEO Emanuel Steiner explains as follows: “It was very important to us – especially to our team – to take a step in the right direction in terms of sustainability in the fleet and gain experience of different drive technologies so that we can later convert our entire fleet.” And he adds: “For us, the CNG drive was the right technology for long distances with a heavy load because we can’t afford to take longer electrical charging breaks during the working day.”

Mr. Steiner, which CNG vehicles have you now opted for and how many are you using in total?

Emanuel Steiner, Co-CEO and Founder of FELFEL: An Iveco 35S14 G Daily CNG with bridge, top and lifting platform and an Iveco 35S14 G Daily CNG with van body.

How have you fared with CNG vehicles and how satisfied are you with them?

We’re very satisfied. Since we acquired them in 2018, the vehicles have proven their worth and the situation in terms of filling station availability has improved. We’ve been virtually everywhere in Switzerland in them, and we’ve even had customers proactively asking us about them.

Do you try to fill up with only biogas where possible to ensure virtually carbon-neutral transportation?

Yes, we only use biogas for the CNG vehicle.

With your commitment to the environment, you’re a role model. How has the response been among customers, employees and partners, for example?

Great – our employees in particular are very proud of what we’re doing. We have a relatively young team and sustainability is very important to them.

Are you planning to make further investments in sustainable mobility in the future? If so, what are the plans in this regard?

Yes, of course! We’ve set ourselves the goal of eliminating the need to purchase any more conventional vehicles (petrol/diesel) and gradually replacing our fleet of around 25 vehicles. It will be a mix of CNG and purely electric, depending on the area of use. (jas, July 19, 2022)

Published by Gaz Energy - Climate-friendly mobility portal, 2022.