Zenhäusern Frères SA - From Family Tradition to the Future: A State‑of‑the‑Art Bakery
The Swiss family-owned company Zenhäusern is internationally known for its Valais rye bread. IE Food was responsible for the planning and execution of a state-of‑the‑art bakery with 6,500 m² of operational space, designed and built in accordance with the highest GMP standards.
Zenhäusern Frères SA — From Family Tradition to the Future: A State‑of‑the‑Art Bakery
Project
Feasibility study including master plan, planning and execution through to commissioning.
Client
Zenhäusern Frères SA
Key Data
Working Together for Project Success
Services provided by IE Group
- Feasibility study
- Masterplan
- Planning and Execution
- Fully integrated construction, operational and logistics planning
- Consistent GMP-compliant design with a focus on hygiene and trade interfaces
- Close coordination of construction and logistics planning
Challenges & Solutions
Integrated Disciplines
Hillside Site
The Project in Detail
Zenhäusern operates several bakeries and restaurants in the Canton of Valais and produces a wide range of baked goods, confectionery products, ice cream, chocolate, and hot and cold dishes for its own retail outlets and restaurants. To consolidate around 120 employees at a single production site near Sion and secure long‑term growth, the company decided to build a new central bakery. Production runs 24/7, 365 days a year. In the first year alone, approximately 850 tonnes of flour were planned to be processed. The combination of multiple production areas, permanently installed equipment and a challenging hillside site requires a highly integrated planning approach.
The Challenge
At Zenhäusern, production processes are closely interconnected rather than isolated. Baked goods are transferred to sandwich production, while finished products must be distributed efficiently to on‑site retail areas as well as external branches and restaurants.Core production relies on permanently installed systems such as fermentation chambers, ovens and cold rooms. Manual processes surrounding these systems had to be designed with short distances, logical workflows and adapted to the hillside site, where the ground‑floor footprint is smaller than the upper level.
Key Success Factors
To accommodate the site conditions, all production and logistics areas were located on the larger upper floor, while administration and restaurant functions were placed on the smaller ground floor. This configuration offers several advantages: optimal natural lighting, hillside-adapted delivery and dispatch ramps enabling seamless processes, and cost savings through the elimination of freight elevators. Ventilation and cooling systems were integrated into the overall concept, with the roof used as a natural exhaust outlet. In addition to the well‑structured production layout, a photovoltaic system was combined with consistent heat recovery from industrial refrigeration systems and ovens, further reducing operating costs.
Deepen Your Knowledge
Discover further details in our Project Insight.