A St.Gallen classic with a bite: a visit to the Bechinger specialty butchery
The day starts early for Jörg Bechinger in St. Georgen - he is in his butcher's shop between 5.00 and 5.30 a.m. to make the first sausages of the day. Since 2002, he and his wife Andrea have been running the family business, which was taken over by his parents in 1981. Jörg has been helping out in the store since he was a child - not because he had to, but because he wanted to.
The house specialty? Quite alar: the St.Gallen bratwurst. Between 400 and 2,000 pieces are produced every day - depending on the season and demand. This sausage is not only a local classic, but also nationally renowned: It was awarded gold by the Swiss Meat Association and named the best stadium sausage in Switzerland in the book "Stadionwurst". It also bears the IGP label, which identifies products with a protected geographical origin.
"When something is that good, you don't have to keep tinkering with it."
Jörg Bechinger, Owner Bechinger Specialties Butchery
Bechinger is convinced: "The St.Gallen bratwurst is so good that there is no need for an alternative." Nevertheless, Andrea and Jörg are open to creative ideas. For example, a green bratwurst was created in collaboration with the St.Galler Kantonalbank - an April Fool's joke that generated a lot of conversation. The Bechinger bratwurst has also found its way internationally: in 2019, it was offered for the first time in a sausage store in London. A special highlight was the cooperation with the airline SWISS in 2016, when Bechinger bratwurst was served in First Class on long-haul flights during the Olma period as part of the "Swiss Taste of Switzerland" program. Recommended by the guest chefs of the Hotel Einstein, the sausage found its way into the galley.
Today, the company employs 22 people and six apprentices. These include Bechinger's son Tobias. In his free time, Jörg Bechinger can be found in the great outdoors - hunting in the woods above St. Georgen or walking his dog around the meadows.
Our series "Stories from St.Gallen's trade and industry".
In the "Stories from the business world" series, we regularly present a business from the city of St.Gallen. We follow the relay principle, whereby the business portrayed always recommends the next business. Jörg Bechinger would like to see Adrian Beeli from Union AG featured next.
