Various retailers offer free or low-cost home delivery of food and products for everyday life. Thus they contribute to the avoidance of crowds of elderly and sick people who, according to the FOPH ordinances, should stay at home if possible.

Various retailers – especially in the side valleys of the Saanenland – home delivery has always been part of their range of services. Some of them show particular solidarity with the risk groups, as they offer this service free of charge or at a reduced price during the pandemic. Below is a non-exhaustive list of companies in the Saanenland that offer home delivery services.

Free home delivery services
- Pernet Comestibles, Gstaad, 033 748 70 66, comestibles@ pernet.com
- Buure Metzg, Gstaad, 033 744 11 44, gstaad@buuremetzg.ch
- Buure Metzg, Schönried, 033 744 19 39, schoenried@buuremetzg.ch
- Buure Metzg, Rougemont, 026 925 86 22
- Peters Cheslade, Gsteig, 033 755 10 50, info@cheslade.ch
- Schmid village shop, Saanen, 033 748 75 74, and Schmid Früchte, Gemüse und Getränke, Saanen, 033 748 75 75 75, info@schmidsaanen.ch

Chargeable home delivery services
- Village shop, Lauenen, 033 765 35 65, b.f.annen@bluewin.ch, CHF 5  per delivery
- Chnusperbecke, Bäckerei Wehren, Schönried and Gstaad, 033 744 14 84, info@chnusper-becke.ch, CHF 8 per delivery
- Early Beck, Gstaad and Saanen, 033 748 70 48, info@early-beck.ch, CHF 7 per delivery, free of charge from CHF 50 value of goods

No supply difficulties
"The demand for goods for daily use - personal hygiene, staple foods, tinned food, flour, sugar - has risen massively on Friday and Saturday," writes Marcel Schlatter, media spokesman for the Migros-Genossenschaftsbund in response to an enquiry. This was also felt in the Saanenland. Switzerland is in an exceptional situation, he said, and in some cases empty shelves were found in the branches despite enormously increased delivery capacities and large staff deployment.

The employees worked around the clock to supply the stores with additional quantities. There were extra shifts in the distribution centres, the staff was increased, there were extra trips to supply the stores and the major distributors had further increased their delivery capacities. The lifting of the ban on night and Sunday driving had been achieved. "Even in this exceptional situation, it is not necessary to build up large stocks that far exceed everyday requirements", Schlatter stresses. "There is no shortage of food and daily replenishment is ensured thanks to our well filled warehouses." The second major distributor, Coop, seconds this assessment of the situation.

This trend is not noticeable in the village shops. "I think people in the Saanenland are a bit more grounded and perhaps have more supplies at home," said a retailer when asked. "Maybe someone who usually buys a kilogram of flour will buy five. Pasta or rice also go a little better," said one retailer. But the behaviour of the customers has not changed much in the current exceptional situation. The retailers in the Saanenland also have no supply bottlenecks to complain about, as they assure. And none need to be feared.

Based on AvS/Blanca Burri and Anja Moosmann