50 years of history

50 YEARS OF HISTORY

50 years ago, in 1973, a story began. Through the strength and determination of Jacques Amstein, first under the name of AMSTRU SA, and shortly afterwards renamed AMSTEIN SA. TOUT-O-MAT SA was then created to separate the company's food business from its technical activities.

It began by marketing vending machines for hot drinks and various other automatic appliances, then moved on to importing foreign beers, specific to certain regions. He was one of the first people in the world to believe in the enormous potential of this market. It was initially Belgium, the leading producer of speciality beers, that Jacques Amstein turned to and made some serious contacts.

Two years later (in 1975), Orval beer arrived in Switzerland, marking the start of premium beers in our country. Today, Orval is still distributed by AMSTEIN SA. The market for typical speciality beers quickly became very successful.

Apart from a few rare exceptions, Jacques Amstein was responsible in Switzerland for the beers of the Trappist Fathers, wheat beers, unfiltered beers, fruity beers - in short, all those beers that bore no resemblance to the beer that consumers had known in the past. This was despite the many restrictions imposed by federal laws on foodstuffs and weights and measures.

When AMSTEIN SA took over the Sormani and Rüfenacht companies in VEVEY, it began to market all kinds of beverages.

Following the sudden closure of Boisson Chablais SA, a large number of its staff joined AMSTEIN SA and were immediately integrated. This enabled AMSTEIN SA to gain a significant market share in the Chablais region.

The latest service to emerge: online sales, the E-Shop. 

AMSTEIN SA, TOUT-O-MAT SA, BOISSON SHOPPING SA AND HÔTEL ABACA are all part of the "L'Ambassadeur de la bière SA" group, a 100% family-owned holding company in which no shares have ever left the father-and-child circle.

The success of our companies is due to openness in all situations, a constant quest for quality, perseverance and continuous innovation.

AMSTEIN SA and TOUT-O-MAT SA look forward to welcoming you to this anniversary.