History

In 1922, Bern-born Water Blaser Senior and his wife Cécile Hug set up a small coffee trading business in Zurich. The small shop on Walchestrasse boasted a coffee bar under the name ‘Cécile’ in honour of the co-founder. Even back then, Walter Blaser bought green coffee straight from its countries of origin.

In 1929, the entrepreneurial young couple moved their business to Effingerstrasse 25 in Bern, where they had more space for the office, shop and roastery. Passers-by were able to watch the roaster at work through the window. Despite difficult economic times, the small business carried on developing.

After Walter Blaser Senior’s untimely death in 1939, his wife Cécile Blaser successfully carried on alone despite difficult economic circumstances and the authorities’ reservations. Together with her son Walter Blaser Junior, she used her initiative and courage to make it through the war and post-war period.

Walter Blaser Junior, who had started working in the business while he was still at school, took on the role of director. His mother stood by his side until 1980. From this point on, focus shifted to gastronomy and wholesale.

In 1955, the first fully automatic and electronically powered roasting machine in Switzerland was put into operation at Effingerstrasse 25. Innovation and progress were the focus of the day.

In 1962, Markus Blaser joined the business side of the company and took over general management from 1982. A couple of years later, his brother Rolf Blaser followed in his footsteps to work on the technical side of the company. The 3rd generation is present in the family business from now on.

In 1964, production was expanded and modernised. For this project, new premises were rented on Kapellenstrasse. Gastronomy customers were now served by an in-house delivery fleet of VW buses.

Things were starting to get a little cramped at Effingerstrasse. An old beer depot on Güterstrasse was taken over in 1975. This new location provided more space for staff and production, as well as a direct link to the train platform.

In 1981, the old buildings at Güterstrasse were torn down to make way for a new 7-storey building! Featuring the latest technical facilities, our production and company headquarters at Güterstrasse 4 were officially opened. The coffee roasting department became Blaser Café AG and the raw coffee department became Blaser Trading AG.

In order to better serve green coffee customers in the USA, Blaser & Wolthers Specialty Coffee Trading Co. is founded in Miami in 1995 - with a majority holding. In 2008 the company was taken over completely by Blaser Trading AG and renamed Blaser Trading USA.

In 1996 Blaser Trading joined forces with individual Italian coffee roasters to form the Caffè Speciali Certificati Association (CSC). The CSC members pursue a common goal - to promote the culture of high quality coffee. They have particularly high standards for their coffee products and want to show this to the outside world with a common label.

Between 1996 and 1998, Marc Käppeli, Bettina Blaser and Michael Blaser joined the business. Marc Käppeli took on the role of director from 2006. Bettina Blaser now manages HR and Michael Blaser took over corporate communication. Together with Stefano Zoratti and Christoph Lauper, they now make up the executive management of Blaser Café AG.

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) was founded in 1982 in the United States of America. The members of the organisation have set themselves the goal of supporting all appropriate measures to achieve the maximum possible quality of specialty coffees. Blaser Trading played a major role in founding the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), the European chapter of SCA, in London in 1998 and is still an active member of SCA Switzerland.

Under the name ‘Alpine Coffee Center’, Blasercafé opened one of the first coffee academies in Switzerland with an exceptionally varied course programme. The barista and sensory courses are especially popular. The range of courses has been adjusted and developed until today, with certified courses from the SCA Coffee Skills Program also being offered.

The community of interest (CI) Coffee Switzerland is an umbrella organisation of the most important organisations involved in the Swiss coffee market, which together fulfil the goal of joining forces to promote the coffee industry for the benefit of all stakeholders. Blaser Trading was actively involved in the foundation in 2014.