What's new in the Bertschi Group?

From a white spot 4 years ago to a strategic hub and a strong global presence.

The Bertschi subsidiary in Rotterdam, located on Theemsweg in Botlek, right in the middle of the port of Rotterdam, now offers a storage capacity of 800 TEU hazardous goods containers and more than 1,500 TEU non-hazardous goods containers. Its close proximity to customers, port terminals, and the direct connection to the European rail network is one of the subsidiary’s key strategic advantages.

While we are well aware of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has also brought about an environmentally positive consequence within the logistics industry: a trending shift away from flexibag-loadings towards ISOtank usage.

In the midst of transporting all sorts of different liquid and dry bulk chemicals, Bertschi is also involved in food industry logistics. Being a Swiss company, we are delighted to share that we take part in the production of Swiss chocolate, through our transportation of cocoa butter.

BREXIT is reality. The UK left the European Union at the end of January 2020 under a transition period that expires on December 31 this year. Despite ongoing negotiations, no formal agreement between the UK and the EU has been reached so far.

Never before have supply chains been so vulnerable. The outbreak of corona put industrial companies in trouble, with access to supplies being cut off as early as March this year or later on. With sourcing factories closing or facing insolvency, fewer ships operating, and delayed access to ports and borders blocked, companies have needed to become innovative in sourcing their required materials.

The Bertschi Group cannot escape the impacts of COVID-19. Shareholders were informed about current developments at the Annual General Meeting on 4 July 2020. The company handled the first wave of coronavirus with aplomb, thanks in part to its advanced digital transformation, which is to be further accelerated. The company also aims to proactively seek out opportunities during the crisis and continue to invest in innovative customer solutions. The Bertschi Group Board of Directors has been expanded to include China expert Kurt Haerri and Jörg Berner, the first member of the third generation.

We are proud to congratulate our apprentices on the successful apprenticeship certification. For the future we wish them all the best and much success!

Thanks to expansion of its worldwide activities, the Bertschi Group grew again in the 2019 financial year. Due to the challenging market environment, the rate of growth for the global chemical logistics company slowed considerably. Sales rose to CHF 985 million, with the earnings position remaining just about stable. Efforts focused on the digital transformation and targeted expansion of services. The Swiss family-owned business plans to continue these efforts vigorously in 2020.

Bertschi can look back on a long tradition as a training company and the Bertschi apprentices are regularly among the best of their year. Also this year 3 of our apprentices completed their apprenticeship with top marks and were honoured by Spedlogswiss and ASTAG for this outstanding achievement.