By Jamie Beecroft, Year 12
After a long hiatus for the past 2 years from any sort of multi-day school trip, due to obvious reasons, they are back. The economics department took advantage of this by organizing visits to 4 factories and the swiss parliament in the span of 3 days. Led by Mr. Brabec, accompanied by Mr. Khimji and Mrs. Oberei, the group of teachers did well to keep the group of 26 students busy.
Since I had arrived at LGB in year 10, all I had to see of my classmates at the time was half of their masked faces. I couldn’t think of what their faces looked like let alone imagine going on a school trip with them anytime soon. Nevertheless, now being in year 12 the school dynamics have changed quite drastically; which is why when I was given the chance to miss a week of school and a maths exam to visit new areas of Switzerland and get a peek into its industry; it would have been a challenge to say no.
Zweifel
Following a pit stop at a deceivingly vast shopping center in the canton of Aargau, we arrived at the home of the paprika chip; the Zweifel factory. With bellies full of a Subway-Burger King-Popeyes combo and barely being able to stand the sight of food, our student group was greeted in the visitors center with free taster packets of the whole Zweifel chip range, so therefore we were forced to stuff our faces even more. The subsequent guided tour of the factory had some complications due to a malfunction in one of the machines leading to the production of all chips being halted for several hours. It was impressive to see how well this situation was handled considering the financial loss this would cause. This issue was however resolved during the guided tour and we were able to taste chips fresh off the production line.
Feldschlösschen
When approaching the Feldschlösschen factory on the morning of day 2 of the trip, it appeared more to be a castle than anything else to our foggy morning brains. The surrounding land, also owned by Feldschlösschen, was filled with cow fields, horse stables, and a restaurant where the class ate after the tour. We were shown all the now unused methods for the brewery of Feldschlösschen beer as well as the current brewing and packaging areas. It remained the most visitor-friendly place we visited and often seemed more like a museum than an actual functioning brewery.
Saltworks
At first thought, the idea of visiting a salt factory seemed to be the least exciting stop on the schedule. However, the sheer scale of the table salt storage facilities and the salt mountain left us feeling quite the opposite. In a presentation given at the beginning of the tour, the guides spoke of how valuable salt had been in the past compared to nowadays when it is possible to buy a 1-kilogram bag of salt for 1 CHF in their gift shop. To then see the scale at which it is being sent around the world nowadays was a contrast that I had not previously been aware of.
Victorinox
The Victorinox factory that we visited lay just outside of the Jura capital city of Delémont where our 2nd night was spent. Within the Victorinox brand, it is the second-largest production facility in Switzerland and the only one responsible for the production of watches. However, we were not shown this area of the facility due to the nature of watch production and not wanting their employees to be disturbed during this difficult production process. We instead looked around at what the brand is better known for; making knives. Later on, in a presentation given to us by the responsible for the site, he spoke of the importance that the handmade aspect of their products have. Of course now, to keep production effective, it is almost a necessity to have the machinery to help workers assemble the knives, an effort is made to keep their products produced by skilled individuals and not just machines.
Swiss Parliament
As the final stop of the trip in Bern, the parliament was a welcomed change to the loud, busy, and monotone color scale that is found in manufacturing facilities. During our visit, they were preparing for the winter session going from November 28th to December 16th. The Christmas tree was being decorated and the sound systems were getting tweaked in the chambers. Being shown through this location with such a rich history and during a quiet time in preparation for the representatives of each canton to meet and make decisions concerning the country as a whole … was kinda cool.
