Alpine Freshness: Swiss Company to Sell Air to China

A small but ambitious Swiss start-up seeks to tackle "terrible pollution" and "debilitating health problems" as it sets its market sights on China and other industrial countries where clean air is of vital importance.

The firm Swiss Alpine Air has gathered and bottled fresh air from various regions around the Swiss Alps and intends to sell it to countries with high levels of air pollution, local.ch reported.

Although the idea might seem strange to Swiss residents, the company's target audience mainly includes commuters in neighboring European states and tourists from countries like China, the company's CEO Danny Wurr said.

"This product is for a population who live with terrible pollution every day, a pollution that may shorten their lives and cause debilitating health problems," Wurr told local.ch.

Although the businessman is well aware of the fact that one bottle of Swiss air is not enough to tackle global environmental issues, he still believes that "it is so nice to be able to breathe clean fresh air even for a little while."

According to Wurr, especially Chinese tourists are very much interested in buying the unusual product and taking it back to their home country.

"China is already buying air from Canada and Australia, we feel Swiss alpine air is better still," the entrepreneur said.

The cans can be purchased online for 18.47 Swiss francs (about 19 US dollars) per 7 Liters.

Wurr stated that his company has already sold several lots of the product. Their number is for now quite "small," but the company is still "pleased with the start," the entrepreneur concluded.