Jucker Farm is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

agrotourism Agritourism or agrotourism involves any agriculturally based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or ranch. It encompasses a wide range of activities, including direct-to-consumer sales such as farm stands and u-pick, agricultu ...

company and agriculture producer and distributor, that operates three farm estates including restaurants and three farm shops. Based in

Seegräben Seegräben is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. Besides the village of Seegräben itself, the m ...

in the

canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

, Jucker Farm is known for the agricultural events, among them the biggest pumpkin festival in Switzerland, and Jucker Farm is also the most important pumpkin producer respectively distributor in Switzerland.

History

Basing on the Jucker family's tradition to operate their farm in

Pfäffikersee Pfäffikersee (or ''Lake Pfäffikon'') is a lake in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland, near the town of Pfäffikon, Zurich, Pfäffikon. It is 2.5 km long and 1.3 km wide at the middle. The lake was created in the last ice age when a mor ...

shore and their mother's small estate in

Rafz Rafz is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Bülach (district), Bülach in the northwest of the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. Rafz was first mentioned in 1413 as ''Rafsa''. Geography Rafz has an area of . Of th ...

, the brothers Beat Jucker and Martin Jucker established in 2000 the Farmart AG (

Aktiengesellschaft (; abbreviated AG ) is a German language, German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e., one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria ...

), which was renamed in 2013 as Jucker Farm AG. As of November 2014, the company owns three farms, including affiliated companies and Jucker Farmart Expo GmbH (Germany) that organizes, among others in the

Europapark Rust Europa-Park is a theme park in Rust, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Covering a total area of 95 hectares, twenty themed areas offer around a hundred attractions, including shows and fourteen roller coasters. The park also includes six hotels, a ca ...

, pumpkin events in southern Germany. Jucker Farm employs around 150 employees in its operations, i.e. in the three farms and associated farm shops, and two restaurants, that have, depending on weather, between 100 and 8,000 visitors daily.

Agriculture

Among the common agricultural products and the apple orchards, the pumpkin farming is remarkable. The former Jucker Farmart marketed already in 2000 the pumpkin products of about a hundred Swiss farmers: "''We are not the only farm selling such products, but probably we are of the size and nature to but unique in Switzerland''," said Beat Jucker in an interview, and estimated that their products have between 30 and 50 percent of the total domestic volume account in Switzerland. Around 300 different varieties of pumpkin, of which about 20 main sorts, are distributed; in 2000 about pumpkin were sold. The farms sell in the farm shops also books about this plant, Halloween pumpkin cut sets and offer the organization of pumpkin markets, festivals and exhibitions. Jucker Farm therefore claims to be the most important producer of organically-farmed pumpkins in Switzerland.

Locations and offers

Agrotourism

The so-called ''experience farmyards'' (in German: ''Erlebnishöfe'') provided by the Jucker family in Seegräben (''Juckerhof'') on ''Pfäffikersee'' and in Jona (''Bächlihof'') on ''Obersee'' lakeshore are also nationally known day-trip destinations. In addition to the farm shops and catering, there are for children a nature playground, a goat enclosure, seasonal self picking of fruits and an apple orchard with labyrinth and mazes. Nationally known are the family annual major events, including Switzerland's most important pumpkin festival from September to November: On 5 October 2014, a new international record was established by a pumpkin weighing , at least for some days, but being still the biggest pumpkin in Switzerland.

Farm restaurants

The "HofChuchi" restaurant in Seegräben is opened 365 days a year. The menu features a wide choice of seasonal and regional products cultivated by their own and also includes agricultural procuts of other local providers, as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner, the latter in winter only during limited opening times. The two restaurants in Seegräben and Jona offer a catering company for corporate events, seminars and private events.

Farm shops

The three farm shops are operated by the farms: ''Juckerhof'' in Seegräben, ''Bächlihof'' in Jona and ''Spargelhof'' in Rafz. The shops are open 365 days a year and offer the agricultural products grown in the region and specialities produced by other local agricultural producers. An adjoint farm's bakery at Seegräben was established in May 2015.

Webshop

Jucker Farm is partner of the webshop ''farmy.ch'' that was awarded by the Swiss E-Commerce Award in June 2015.

Transport

In order to force the public transportation and to avoid massive individual traffic, a shuttle-bus operates during peak season between the railway station Aathal, provided by the S-Bahn Zürich

S14 (ZVV) The S14 is a regional railway line of the Zürich S-Bahn on the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV), Zürich transportation network, in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. At , trains of the S14 service usually depart from underground tracks () 3 ...

line and the ''Juckerhof'' farm in Seegräben. ''Bächlihof'' in Jona is connected by the local bus 991 heading to

Rapperswil railway station Rapperswil railway station () is located next to the Altstadt, old town and harbour of Rapperswil in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of St. Gallen. It is the largest of four active railway stations in the municipality of Rapperswil-Jona (the other ...

Awards

* 2013: Tourismuspreis Schweiz 2013 - ''Herausragendes Projekt, 1. Preis'' * 2014: ''

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

Entrepreneur of the Year - «Family Business»'' * 2015: Swiss E-Commerce Award for the webstore ''farmy.ch''. Jucker Farm was nominated by

for the ''EY Entrepreneur of the Year «Services/Trade»'' awards, and awarded on 24 October 2014 as ''Entrepreneur of the Year''.

References

External links

* (widely in German) {{coord, 47, 20.6, N, 8, 46.4, E, region:CH-ZH_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in the canton of Zürich 2000 establishments in Switzerland Farms in Switzerland Restaurants in Switzerland Tourism in Switzerland Rural tourism Seegräben Agriculture companies of Switzerland