What crisis? These Swiss companies are doing really well
The economy is cooling down and many Swiss companies are having to tighten their belts. But some are thriving even in the current situation - partly because they are benefiting from long-term trends.
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- The global economy is weakening. Swiss companies are also feeling the effects.
- Nevertheless, there are companies based in Switzerland that are growing and increasing their profits even in these times.
- These include a traditional company as well as one that has only just emerged from the start-up phase, a globally known brand and a company that is only known to experts in the relevant sector.
The euphoria following the lifting of the coronavirus restrictions has faded. Not least because the next global crises followed as soon as the first of the current decade was over: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, energy shortages and the exploding Middle East are slowing down companies and unsettling those who could buy their products.
The Swiss economy, which has a strong international focus, is also directly affected when the economy cools down in important partner countries such as Germany, the USA or China.
Nevertheless, there are companies that are growing even in the current situation, making respectable profits and increasing their market share. The following examples are by no means all Swiss companies that are successfully defying the crisis. Nor is the list a ranking.
Instead, they are all benefiting from global trends such as the energy revolution, new eating habits, the fitness boom and urban densification. In addition, companies in the finance and insurance sectors are also developing magnificently, as are innovative IT companies.
The following list focuses on companies that develop and manufacture products. This is because they are facing particularly great challenges with rising energy, material and transportation prices.
Ypsomed: syringes for weight loss medication
The company, based in Burgdorf BE, has been manufacturing auto-injectors - syringes for self-use, also known as pens - since 2003. These have long been used by diabetics and people who regularly need blood thinning medication, for example.
Ypsomed is currently benefiting from the boom in weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic. These are driving up demand for injectors to such an extent that the company is massively expanding its production.
According to the NZZ, Ypsomed plans to invest1.5 billion Swiss francs in order to be able to produce one billion pens a year from 2030. The fact that slimming medication is now also available in pill form has not hurt sales.
New Roots: Vegan dairy internationally successful
An ambitious downhill biker who starts experimenting with vegan food during an injury break: this is how New Roots got its start in 2016. The vegan cheese and other plant-based dairy products are now sold through Swiss wholesalers and are an export product. 600 tons of cheese, cream cheese, fondue, milk and yoghurt leave the factory every year, founder Freddy Hunziker told the Berner Zeitung newspaper.
40 employees produce the vegan alternatives or experiment with new products at New Roots in Oberdiessbach BE. Bilanz voted New Roots the most innovative Swiss company of 2025.
Cashews from Africa and Asia are still the basis of the vegan dairy products. New Roots wants to gradually switch to local lupin seeds, pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds.
Schindler: on the up for a hundred years
It is by far the oldest company in this line-up: in its 150-year history, elevator manufacturer Schindler has become a global player with over 100 locations worldwide. The headquarters are still in Ebikon LU.
Reconstruction after the Second World War played a major role in this, as did the (high-rise) construction boom in Asia in recent decades. However, the Swiss market is still important, says Schindler CEO Patrick Hess to the Handelszeitung newspaper, and only a few countries have a higher density of lifts.
However, Schindler is also feeling the global economic headwind. In October, the company announced an increase in profit despite falling sales.
On: The shoe runs and runs
The sneakers with the clouds are a global phenomenon. And wherever On goes, the shoe takes off: The Swiss company is currently generating particularly high sales in the USA. In 2023, it exceeded the 1 billion threshold in total, while in 2021 it was still under CHF 400 million.
In Switzerland, shoes with tunnels in the soles are omnipresent - especially among people over the age of forty. The young audience is less interested in their parents' sporty lifestyle shoes. Even show stars like Zendaya as ambassadors don't help. The On makers want to change this, as they announced to the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper.
The Generation X image is not helping their profits anyway. And criticism of the price that On pays in Pakistan to manufacture a shoe and the amount that appears on the price tag in the store has not slowed growth.
With innovations such as the sprayed shoe without laces, the brand is keeping itself in the spotlight and has a recipe for producing shoes in an extremely cost-effective and resource-saving way.
R&S Group: Transformer for the energy transition
Finally, a company whose name is probably only known to experts in the energy sector. R&S manufactures transformers, i.e. devices that change the voltage. These installations are indispensable in power grids, as they bring the electrical energy as it arrives from the high-voltage lines to the right voltage for households or businesses.
The energy transition and decarbonization are increasing the demand for electrical installations. R&S Unternehmen, based in Sissach BL, recently gained a foothold on that island as well as in England through the acquisition of an Irish company. The company has been active in Germany, Italy and Poland for some time. CEO Markus Laesser sees opportunities not least in the Baltic states, where many data centers with high electricity requirements are being built, as he told the Handelszeitung.