Zurich Fast Food Chain “Not Guilty” Threatened with Extinction Due to Covid Loans

In 2007, the fast food chain “Not Guilty” opened its first branch in Zurich. The concept: fast but healthy and fresh food. At its peak, “Not Guilty” had five restaurants in central locations in the city of Zurich. The branch at the Zurich Stauffacher has been closed for a few weeks – as have two other branches in Zurich.

Again «Blick» writes on Sunday, the company has serious problems. Only at the end of April did the Zurich District Court order a definitive debt restructuring moratorium. A debt appeal was recently published in the Official Gazette to negotiate a deal with creditors to write off part of the outstanding debt. If the deal doesn’t work, “Not Guilty” is bankrupt, according to Blick.

During the pandemic, the chain has received hundreds of thousands of francs in Covid loans. This amount must be repaid. The managing director and founder of “Not Guilty” tells Blick that the situation is very challenging. “The contaminated sites are potentially life-threatening,” says the founder.

Actually, the company would have eight years to repay the sum. But the managing director can already say that this will be very difficult. Because since the pandemic, sales have only recovered slowly and as a lunchtime restaurant, the home office trend has been particularly hard hit.

Two branches are still open – both in Zurich Oerlikon. The managing director definitely wants to continue operating both locations. 20 employees work there, many on an hourly wage basis. The founder and another employee are in the back office.

Although the prospects are rather bleak, the founder of “Not Guilty” still believes in a future. Although Switzerland is a demanding market, the success of Dean & David in Germany is motivating and a “reason to believe”.