tibits
tibits ag is a Swiss privately held vegetarian and vegan restaurant chain operating 12 pay-by-weight self-service buffet locations across Switzerland and Darmstadt, Germany, serving individual diners, corporate catering clients, and students through its Mmmmember loyalty program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersZürich, Switzerland
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What tibits does
tibits ag is a privately held Swiss vegetarian and vegan restaurant chain headquartered in Zurich, founded in 2000 by the Frei brothers (Daniel, Reto, and Christian) in partnership with Rolf Hiltl of Haus Hiltl, the world's oldest vegetarian restaurant. The company operates 12 locations — eleven across major Swiss cities (Zurich, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Zug, Aarau, Winterthur) plus one in Darmstadt, Germany — with a concentration of sites in high-footfall train station positions. The core format is the "Food Boat" self-service buffet, where guests compose their own plates from over 40 rotating homemade dishes (80% vegan) and pay by weight at approximately CHF 4.70 per 100g, refreshed multiple times daily.
The core technology layer is the self-service buffet system with weight-based pricing, supplemented by QR-code in-restaurant ordering and direct online payment, table reservations via the Foratable platform, and a standard e-commerce shop for retail merchandise. Business model revenue is generated across five streams: in-house buffet sales (primary), take-away service with zero-waste discounts for customers bringing reusable containers, catering for events of 10-100+ persons across major Swiss cities, event room and seminar rentals at select locations (47-210 m²), and retail through cookbooks, proprietary spice blends, reusable drinkware, gift vouchers, and co-developed products such as the High Five Bar with cyclist Marlen Reusser. Pricing spans pay-as-you-go weight-based (CHF 3.60-4.70 per 100g), fixed brunch/dinner packages (CHF 49-55 per person), catering packages (CHF 129-350), and subscription-style loyalty through the Mmmmember card (5% credit bonus) and Veggie-Pass student card (15% discount). Customer segments span individual health-conscious consumers (primary), corporate and event clients, students under 29, and private event organizers, with go-to-market executed through direct-to-consumer restaurant operations plus event-driven catering and B2B venue rental.
tibits firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- tibits
- Legal name
- tibits ag
- Website
- https://tibits.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- tibits ag is a Swiss privately held vegetarian and vegan restaurant chain operating 12 pay-by-weight self-service buffet locations across Switzerland and Darmstadt, Germany, serving individual diners, corporate catering clients, and students through its Mmmmember loyalty program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
tibits industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurant Services
- NAICS
- Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets (722514), Caterers (72232), Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Full-Service Restaurants (722511)
- akta.pro primary industry
- All-Day Dining Restaurants (THAFACAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Specialty & Dietary Catering (Vegan, Kosher, Halal, Allergy-Friendly) (HSACAGAH), Specialty & Dietary Catering (Halal, Kosher, Vegan, Allergen-Free, Medical) (THAHAKAK)
Keywords
Where tibits is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Zürich
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices15 records
Markets served
tibits business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Restaurant dining - buffet sales: Revenue from self-service buffet where customers pay by weight for vegetarian and vegan dishes. Prices vary by meal type (breakfast, daily buffet) and service mode (in-house vs take-away)
- Catering services: Catering for events including buffets, aperitif platters, and daily packages. Minimum order value applies. Available for groups from 10-100+ persons across major Swiss cities
- E-commerce shop: Sale of cookbooks, spice blends, beverages, wine, merchandise (mugs, bottles, KeepCups), and gift vouchers through online shop
- Mmmmember loyalty program: Customers load credit onto membership cards with 5% bonus. 15% discount on all purchases for members
- Veggie-Pass student program: Student discount card (15% discount) for students up to 29 years old with 5% credit bonus on loaded amounts
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Breakfast buffet in-house |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Daily buffet & brunch |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Sunday brunch buffet package |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Dinner buffet package |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Aperitif package (10-12 persons) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Daily/Season package (10-12 persons) |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Aperitif platters |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Catering minimum order |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
tibits product offering
Product offeringCore offering
tibits operates self-service vegetarian and vegan buffet restaurants where guests compose their own plate and pay by weight, offering over 40 homemade salads, hot dishes, soups, freshly pressed juices, and desserts refreshed multiple times daily. The company complements its buffet core with Sunday brunch packages, full-service catering for events of 10–100+ people, event/seminar room rentals, loyalty programs (Mmmmember Karte and Veggie-Pass), and a retail shop selling cookbooks, spice blends, reusable drinkware, food products, and gift vouchers.
Product overview
tibits is a Swiss vegetarian and vegan restaurant chain operating primarily as a pay-by-weight self-service buffet (the 'Food Boat'), complemented by Sunday brunch, catering services, event rooms, and a retail shop. The core offering is the buffet with over 40 rotating homemade vegetarian and vegan dishes refreshed multiple times daily. Adjacent offerings include catering (with packages from 10 people up to 100+), event spaces at select locations, a loyalty program (Mmmmember card and Veggie-Pass student card), and an online/gift shop selling cookbooks, spice blends, reusable drinkware, food products, and gift vouchers. The restaurant chain has 12 locations in Switzerland and one in Germany.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- tibits Food Boat: The self-service buffet concept where customers compose their own plates and pay by weight, offering over 40 homemade vegetarian and vegan dishes, hot meals, soups, freshly pressed juices, and desserts.
- Mmmmember Karte
- Veggie-Pass
- tibits Take Away Pop-up
Products and services
- tibits Restaurant – Buffet (Food Boat) Self-service vegetarian and vegan buffet restaurant where guests compose their own plate and pay by weight. Offers over 40 homemade salads, hot dishes, soups, freshly pressed juices, and desserts from around the world, refreshed multiple times daily. Available for in-house dining and take-away, with 80% of the menu vegan.
- Sunday Brunch
Companies that use tibits
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
tibits technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature2 records
tibits partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Hiltl (Haus Hiltl)corePartnership between tibits founders (the Frei brothers) and Rolf Hiltl of Haus Hiltl (world's oldest vegetarian restaurant since 1898). Hiltl shared over 100 years of restaurant experience to help establish tibits in 2000. The two families continue to work closely together, sharing expertise in vegetarian and vegan cuisine development. They co-published the Vegan Love Story cookbook.
- ForatablecoreOnline table reservation platform used by all tibits locations for customer bookings.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights6 records
tibits competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Le Pain Quotidien: Global bakery-restaurant chain offering communal-table dining with healthy, plant-forward menu options. Comparable on all-day casual dining format and vegetarian-friendly menu breadth; serves as a broader incumbent competitor in European city-center locations.
- Pret a Manger: UK-headquartered fast-casual chain with strong European presence, an expanding vegetarian/vegan menu, and a focus on natural ingredients. Comparable on healthy fast-casual positioning, urban commuter locations, and rapidly growing plant-based menu share.
- Wagamama: Pan-Asian fast-casual chain with strong vegan menu and European presence. Comparable as a casual dining operator competing for the same health-conscious urban diners, though broader cuisine and larger portfolio.
Emerging players
- by CHLOE: US-based plant-based fast-casual chain serving vegan bowls, burgers, and salads. Comparable as a pure-vegetarian/vegan casual dining brand targeting younger urban consumers; relevant as a benchmark for plant-based QSR economics.
- Veggie Grill: US-based 100% plant-based fast-casual restaurant chain. Closest global pure-play peer on vegetarian/vegan-only positioning and fast-casual service model, though it operates in a different geography and uses traditional ordering rather than pay-by-weight.
Regional players
- Smiley''s (Tibits-like buffet concepts): Other European plant-forward buffet and pay-by-weight concepts (e.g., similar self-service healthy buffet operators in DACH) provide regional benchmarks for the buffet/pay-by-weight format in adjacent geographies.
Direct peers
- Yooji's: Yooji's is a Swiss grab-and-go sushi and bowl chain that pioneered pay-by-weight counter-service dining in Switzerland, with locations in train stations across major cities. Same target market (urban Swiss consumers seeking quick healthy meals), same distribution channel (SBB stations), same pay-by-weight pricing logic.
- Hiltl (Haus Hiltl): Hiltl is the world's oldest continuously operating vegetarian restaurant (since 1898), based in Zurich, and tibits' co-founder partner. Both are vegetarian/vegan specialists in the Swiss market with shared brand DNA and co-published cookbooks, making them the closest direct peer despite the partnership.
- Dean & David: Dean & David is a Swiss/DACH healthy fast-casual chain serving salads, bowls, and wraps with vegetarian/vegan options. Comparable in target customer (health-conscious urban consumers), cuisine style (fresh bowls), and footprint (Swiss/DACH retail locations including train stations).
- Loving Hut: Global vegan restaurant chain with locations across Europe and Asia. Direct peer on 100% vegan positioning and casual dine-in format; relevant for international vegan brand expansion benchmarking.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
tibits social profiles
Digital presencetibits financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
tibits leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
tibits funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
tibits M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about tibits
What does tibits do?
tibits operates self-service vegetarian and vegan buffet restaurants where guests compose their own plate and pay by weight, offering over 40 homemade salads, hot dishes, soups, freshly pressed juices, and desserts refreshed multiple times daily. The company complements its buffet core with Sunday brunch packages, full-service catering for events of 10–100+ people, event/seminar room rentals, loyalty programs (Mmmmember Karte and Veggie-Pass), and a retail shop selling cookbooks, spice blends, reusable drinkware, food products, and gift vouchers.
Is tibits a public or private company?
tibits is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was tibits founded?
tibits was founded in 2000. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is tibits based?
tibits is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does tibits make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Restaurant dining - buffet sales are the primary driver. The others are catering services, E-commerce shop, mmmmember loyalty program and veggie-Pass student program.
Who are tibits's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Le Pain Quotidien, Pret a Manger and Wagamama. Emerging players are by CHLOE and Veggie Grill. Smiley''s (Tibits-like buffet concepts) is listed as a regional player. Direct peers are Yooji's, Hiltl (Haus Hiltl), Dean & David and Loving Hut.
Does tibits have an API?
No public API is recorded for tibits.
What industry is tibits in?
tibits's product category is Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurant Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFACAJ, All-Day Dining Restaurants, with a secondary code of HSACAGAH, Specialty & Dietary Catering (Vegan, Kosher, Halal, Allergy-Friendly). Its NAICS code is 722514.