Fish & Seafood Prices in Switzerland: Where to Actually Buy in 2026

The cheapest farmed salmon in Switzerland is M-Budget ASC Lachsfilet at Migros (CHF 4.80 for 250g), with Coop's equivalent Prix Garantie ASC range in the same tier. For premium fresh salmon, expect CHF 4 to CHF 6 per 100g at the supermarket counter, dropping to roughly CHF 2.17 per 100g during the heavy Aktion cycles that Greenpeace flagged as problematic in 2023. Swiss freshwater fish (Felchen, Egli) is a premium category at CHF 5 to CHF 9 per 100g.

Sources checked: May 2026. BFS Bundesamt für Statistik (Swiss fish production / consumption); Proviande per-capita consumption; Eidgenössische Zollverwaltung (EZV) 2019 import statistics; fischereistatistik.ch; Swiss Lachs AG (swisslachs.ch, 10-year anniversary 2025); Migros Corporate Communications (Birsfelden Micarna aquaculture press release September 2020); Greenpeace Switzerland 2023 report on Swiss retailer fish discount practices (NZZ, Watson); 2018 Saldo prawn test; 2022 Kassensturz / SRF prawn test; Migros / Coop / Aldi / Lidl online catalogues. Prices verified May 2026.

Rappn is the only neutral grocery price comparison app in Switzerland, with no commercial agreements with any retailer.

The Swiss fish reality: landlocked, mostly imported, premium prices

Switzerland has no coastline. About 95% of the fish and seafood eaten here is imported, with Norway as the single largest source (almost one in five imported fish). Total Swiss fish and seafood imports run around 76'000 tonnes per year. Per-capita consumption sits at about 9 kg of fish and shellfish per person per year, which is roughly half of the European average (22 kg) and a third of what Norwegians or Portuguese eat. Salmon dominates: the 2019 customs data showed 14'000 tonnes of salmon imported, equal to 40% of all Swiss fish imports.

Swiss aquaculture exists but is small. The country produces around 2'900 tonnes per year across all species, traditionally trout, with newer additions in perch (Egli), whitefish (Felchen), salmon, pike-perch and prawns. Two facilities are worth knowing about: Swiss Lachs AG in Lostallo (Canton Graubünden), which has farmed Atlantic salmon in an indoor recirculating system since 2016 and celebrated its tenth anniversary in May 2025, and the Migros Micarna aquaculture in Birsfelden (Canton Basel-Landschaft), opened in September 2020 with a capacity of around 240 tonnes per year of Egli and Felchen.

The price implication of all this geography is simple: fresh saltwater fish in Switzerland is structurally expensive, fresh Swiss freshwater fish is even more expensive (because supply is small), and frozen fish is the value option that closes most of the gap.

Salmon compared: fresh, smoked, frozen

Salmon is the most heavily discounted fish category in Switzerland. Migros and Coop both run weekly Aktionen at 30 to 50% off, which means the salmon you actually pay for is rarely the salmon on the regular shelf-price ticket.

The Aktion cycle matters more than the brand. When M-Classic ASC Lachsfilet drops to CHF 7.95 for 500g (CHF 1.59 per 100g), it undercuts even M-Budget at regular price. Watching the Aktion calendar across both Migros and Coop is the single highest-leverage move in this category.

In December 2023, Greenpeace Switzerland published an analysis of Migros and Coop fish promotions over a three-month period. Salmon accounted for 24% of all Coop fish Aktionen and 13% of all Migros fish Aktionen, with the discounts running between 41% and 50%. At 50% off, fresh salmon was priced at CHF 2.17 per 100g. Greenpeace argued that this normalises high consumption of farmed Atlantic salmon, which has documented environmental costs (escapes from sea cages, salmon-lice management, the fish-in-fish-out feed ratio, parts of the certification chain criticised by independent reviewers including the Scottish Wild Fish report). Both Migros and Coop responded that they comply with the relevant sustainability standards. This article reports the criticism without endorsing or dismissing it.

The premium Swiss-farmed option is Swiss Lachs from Lostallo. It is sold mostly direct via swisslachs.ch and through a small set of fine-grocery and gastronomy partners, not at the major supermarket chains. Pricing per 100g runs roughly twice the price of standard ASC-labelled imported salmon. The trade-off is full Swiss origin, indoor closed-loop aquaculture, no antibiotics, no microplastic exposure, no salmon-lice issues, and (uniquely) safe to eat raw without prior freezing, because the indoor system means no parasites.

White fish compared: cod, hake, sea bass, sea bream

White fish covers everything from supermarket-counter fresh cod and hake to frozen sea bream and the trout-and-perch end of the freshwater category. It is the part of the fish category where pre-cooked, panned (Knusperli, fish fingers) and frozen formats dominate by volume.

Cod prices climbed steadily after 2020 because of stock-management quota cuts in the North Atlantic. Hake is usually the closest taste-and-texture substitute at a meaningfully lower price. Pangasius is the cheapest white fish at the supermarket counter and the most frequently criticised on environmental grounds. The 2026 frozen-cod price at Migros and Coop is typically around CHF 18 to CHF 28 per kg depending on cut, brand and Aktion timing.

Shellfish, prawns and tuna

Prawns (Crevetten) are the second-most discounted fish-category item in Switzerland after salmon. They are also the category where the sustainability and food-safety conversation is most active.

A 2022 Kassensturz / SRF prawn test found that prawn quality at the major Swiss retailers had broadly improved (fewer dangerous bacteria), but flagged ongoing concerns about chlorate residues at some products (including Aldi's Golden Seafood line) and the wider environmental cost of prawn aquaculture. Migros's response was that all frozen prawns from Asia are tested for antibiotic residues at origin and released only on negative result. Coop has stated that all its fresh and frozen fish and seafood are now MSC or ASC certified. The pragmatic takeaway: prawns are best treated as an occasional category rather than a weekly staple, and ASC or organic certification matters more here than in any other fish category.

Canned tuna is the place where Aldi and Lidl undercut Migros and Coop most aggressively. MSC-certified canned tuna in brine at Aldi Suisse or Lidl Schweiz typically lands at CHF 1.80 to CHF 2.50 per 150g tin, versus CHF 2.50 to CHF 3.50 at Migros and Coop for comparable own-brand product. Premium brands (Rio Mare, Costa) are priced consistently across all retailers within roughly CHF 0.30 per tin.

Swiss freshwater fish: Felchen, Egli, Bachforelle

Swiss freshwater fish are a premium category. Supply is small, demand is steady, and the fish has both regional and seasonal personality. The three species you will find most often are Felchen (whitefish, lake-caught and farmed), Egli (perch, increasingly aquaculture-sourced) and Bachforelle (brown trout, mostly aquaculture-sourced).

Migros began farming Egli and Felchen at the Micarna Birsfelden facility in September 2020, targeting 240 tonnes per year. The aim was to make Swiss freshwater fish available year-round (rather than seasonally lake-dependent) and to reduce reliance on imported freshwater fish. About 72% of freshwater fish consumed in Switzerland is still imported even though these are nominally Swiss species. Bachforelle from Swiss aquaculture is the most accessible and consistently priced Swiss fish in supermarkets.

Sustainability: MSC and ASC at Migros and Coop

Both Migros and Coop have made strong commitments on fish sustainability labelling.

• MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certifies wild-caught fish. The blue MSC label is awarded to fisheries that meet defined sustainability standards. Migros has been a member of the WWF Seafood Group since 2008 and reports that 97% of its fish range is sourced from sustainable fisheries or responsible aquaculture.
• ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) certifies farmed fish. The green ASC label covers most farmed salmon, shrimp and trout at Migros and Coop. Coop has stated that, as the first and only Swiss retailer in this position, all fresh and frozen fish and seafood in its assortment is now MSC or ASC certified.

The ASC label has been criticised by independent reviewers in recent years, most prominently in a 2023 report by the Scottish conservation organisation Wild Fish, which documented welfare and environmental issues at certified salmon farms in Scotland and Norway. The certification body responded that some of the cited cases reflected unusual operational conditions and that the certification framework continues to be tightened.

For the price-conscious shopper, the practical position is: prefer MSC and ASC over uncertified product where the price difference is small (usually it is small), prefer Bio or Demeter labels where they are available and the budget allows, and treat prawns and farmed salmon as the categories where the certification choice has the largest downstream environmental significance. See the organic food price comparison for the wider Bio context.

Beyond the supermarket: fish counters at Manor Food and Globus

For Saint-Pierre, line-caught tuna, sushi-grade fresh fillets, oyster origins, or whole Mediterranean dorade and bar, the premium supermarket counters at Manor Food and Globus Delicatessa carry species and origins Migros and Coop do not. The price premium is real (10 to 30% above mainstream supermarkets where an equivalent exists), but for the specific cuts these are often the only Swiss-market source.

Fish is also the single most Aktion-heavy category in Swiss grocery. Greenpeace's 2023 analysis showed salmon Aktionen running between 41% and 50% off, with similar discount cycles on prawns and selected white fish. The retail-shelf regular price is rarely what households actually pay over a year. For the cheapest-overall ranking, see cheapest supermarket in Switzerland.