Madame Frigo coming soon to the city of Zug

The city of Zug will soon have its first public refrigerator aimed at combatting food waste. After volunteer teams were found to manage the refrigerators, the first “Madame Frigo” is scheduled to open in the second half of January 2026.

Back in 2024, the Swiss People's Party (SVP) faction in the city parliament submitted a motion to establish a public refrigerator in Zug run by the Lucerne-based organisation Madame Frigo. At that time, there was only one Madame Frigo refrigerator in the canton of Zug: at the Catholic church in Unterägeri. Public refrigerators are intended to reduce food waste.

In its response at the time, the City Council (Stadtrat) made it clear that operation would only be possible if volunteer teams could be found to manage the refrigerators. Until this is the case, no "Madame Frigo" refrigerator can be installed in Zug.

But volunteers have now been found, as the city of Zug has confirmed to the Zuger Zeitung newspaper. This thereby fulfils the requirements for implementing the project, and the first location can be established.

A “Madame Frigo” will open in the city of Zug in January              Photo: Madame Frigo
 

Exchange with existing locations
The City of Zug is in contact with, among others, the Reformed Church of Steinhausen, which opened a "Madame Frigo" at its church in Steinhausen in May of last year. "The church has expressed interest in setting up another refrigerator in Zug," writes Alina Rütti, Head of Communications for the City of Zug. But the review of a potential location at the Reformed Church on the Bundesstrasse in Zug is not planned until the autumn of this year, as some operational issues still need to be resolved.

Two other locations are currently more concrete for the city of Zug: under the viaduct opposite the Neustadtpassage shopping centre, and by the St. Johannes catholic church in the Herti district. The Lucerne-based association will charge the city of Zug a fee of CHF 499 per location for installing a refrigerator.

“The location at the viaduct is expected to go into operation in the second half of January,” writes Alina Rütti. She cannot provide more precise details about the start date at this time, but a test phase is not planned for this location. “As a rule, the duration of operation is determined by high usage and the reliable support provided by the volunteers,” she adds.

Delay at church location
There are currently delays at the location near the Catholic church due to construction work, but the City of Zug is confident that at least one of the two church locations will become operational in 2026.

In principle, it needs to be determined how operation can be ensured at each location, as the effort required by the operators varies depending on the location. “A dry location, a reliable power supply, and certain monitoring tasks must be guaranteed,” writes AlinaRütti. The preparatory work varies accordingly. “At the viaduct, for example, these tasks are also being supported by the city of Zug’s maintenance department (Werkhof).”