In our satirical video format, Swiss comedian and director Patrick Karpiczenko apologises for Switzerland’s transgressions – this time for the Cheese Union, a mafia-like cartel that has flooded the world with cheese.

Cheese Union? Even in Switzerland only those over 40 still remember this cartel-like organisation that steered the production and sale of Swiss cheese for nearly a century – and they remember it only because the union sponsored the Swiss national ski team in the 1990s and dressed them in legendarily embarrassing cheese-outfits. However, from 1914 to 1999 the union was a powerful institution in Switzerland whose arm reached far out into the world – a world it flooded with subsidised cheese.

Satirist Patrick Karpiczenko has taken on this story about Swiss cheese history and the globalisation of fondue in his new video and says sorry to the world.

If you want to know more about the Cheese Union, we recommend these texts from our archive:

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The cheese collective

This content was published on May 18, 2022 May 18, 2022 A look back at the eventful history of the Swiss Cheese Union, a monopoly founded at the insistence of the federal authorities.

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Fondue – a ‘natural processed product’

This content was published on May 18, 2022 May 18, 2022 Until the Second World War fondue was little known in Switzerland. A a marketing campaign turned it into a national dish.

Or take a look at the sources used for the video:

• Swiss CheeseExternal link by Dominik Flammer and Fabian Scheffold, a book about the history of Swiss cheesemaking.
• “The Fondue ConspiracyExternal link” Planet Money (podcast episode)
• “Federal institute or cartel?External link” by Dorothee Ryser (text in German)

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Living and working in Switzerland

This content was published on Oct 18, 2022 Oct 18, 2022 This is a guide to everything you need to know about life in Switzerland.