Fotra

Fotra is an event catering and rental company in Grenchen, in the canton of Solothurn, trading as Fotra Gastro- und Fest-Service GmbH. It rents out reusable tableware and event equipment, offers catering, a goulash cannon and a food truck, and publishes a long list of venues around Grenchen and Solothurn where its services can be used, from forest huts to castles.

The wedding page

Fotra's wedding page is headed "Die Hochzeit - Der schönste Tag des Lebens!" (the wedding, the most beautiful day of your life) and is otherwise a photo gallery. The written detail sits elsewhere on the site. What the wedding page does carry is the company's current highlight: "Spiessli-Plausch", a charcoal grill set for skewers that guests can enjoy at an event. The grills and matching accessories can be rented, and the page adds "Gerne unterbreiten wir Ihnen auch eine Offerte für die Übernahme des gesamten Caterings" (we are also happy to make you an offer to take over the entire catering).

That sentence sums up how Fotra works. A couple can hire equipment and do the rest themselves or with friends, or ask Fotra to take on the food as well.

What the company offers

The site's menu shows the range. Under Catering there are pages for a catering inquiry (Anfrage Catering), impressions of past events, a Gulaschkanone (a field kitchen for goulash and stews), a food truck, and locations. Under Mehrweg (reusable) the company rents tableware and prints cups. Separate sections cover drinks and food, non-food items, downloads and gas safety checks (Gasprüfung), which relate to the grilling and cooking equipment it rents.

The site does not publish sample wedding menus or catering prices on these pages. The catering itself is arranged through the inquiry page or by phone.

Reusable tableware

The Sortiment page lists Fotra's reusable plastic tableware in detail, all stored and delivered in sealed plastic boxes. It includes reusable cups from 0.1 to 0.5 liters, a long-drink cup, a sparkling wine flute (Sektkelch 0.1 lt), shot cups, stemmed Tritan glasses of 0.2 and 0.47 liters, coffee glasses and coffee cups, round flat plates of 19.5 cm and 23.5 cm, a deep plate of 20.5 cm, deep bowls, snack bowls and fries bowls, forks, knives, spoons and coffee spoons, and a 2-liter pitcher.

For a wedding at a venue without its own kitchen equipment, such as a forest hut, a clubhouse or a garden, this is the practical side of the offer. It means glasses for the apéro and plates for the meal can come from one supplier, and they are reusable rather than disposable.

Venues around Grenchen and Solothurn

The locations page opens with a promise: wherever your event takes place, at the office, at home, on a green meadow or at an event venue, "wir sind schweizweit tätig" (we work throughout Switzerland) and will find a suitable solution. It then lists venues with their key figures. These are places Fotra works with, not venues it runs, and each comes with its own website or contact:

• Clubhaus Kanu Grenchen: up to 50 people, indoor and outdoor areas, a fire pit.
• Hornusserhütte Grenchen: about 40 seats inside and 50 outside.
• Hütte am Waldrand, Grenchen: up to 60 people, an outdoor area for 40, a fire pit.
• Lindenhaus Grenchen: several rooms for 20 to 90 people.
• Disco Sunrise Grenchen: up to 60 people, with a bar and DJ, sound and light, for a dinner followed by dancing.
• Pulverhaus Bellach: indoor space, a generous outdoor area and a fire pit.
• Waldhaus Lengnau: 45 people inside, a large outdoor area and a barbecue area in the Lengnau forest.
• Waldhütten Riedrain, Safnern: a heated log cabin for 50 and a fireplace house for 30.
• Forsthaus Kleinschleif, Pieterlen: 25 seats inside, a large outdoor area and a fire pit.
• Haus zum Himmel, Pieterlen: a hall for about 60 to 80 people, with weddings named among its uses.
• Konzertsaal Solothurn: a historic building for up to 590 people.
• Reithalle (Rythalle) Solothurn: about 700 m2 of open space.
• Bienkensaal Oensingen: up to 400 at a banquet, with weddings named.
• Schloss Jegenstorf: a castle cellar and an orangery, each with a terrace, and a historic pavilion, with weddings named.
• Schloss Landshut: a garden terrace and banquet hall, courtyard and cellar.
• Schloss Thunstetten: individual rooms or the whole castle for exclusive hire, with gardens.
• Tissot Velodrome Grenchen: a cycling track hall that also hosts cultural and business events, with 120 to 1000 places at banquet tables or 100 to 2200 in theater seating.
• Tennishalle Grenchen: large events with up to 2500 seated guests.
• Tennishalle Balsthal: 2 halls, a tennis hall for banquets of up to 2000 and a badminton hall for up to 500.

The list is useful for a couple from abroad. It includes small, rustic forest huts for a relaxed party and castles for a formal day, and each venue has to be booked with its own owner.

Contact

The contact page gives Fotra Gastro- und Fest-Service GmbH, Niklaus-Wengi-Strasse 36, 2540 Grenchen, phone +41 (0)32 654 60 70 and email info@fotra.ch. The office is open Monday to Friday, 08.00 to 12.00 and 13.30 to 17.00, and closed at weekends. Outside those hours, the page gives 2 further numbers, 079 391 61 18 and 079 250 29 27. There is a contact form and an online catalog.

What the site leaves open

The site publishes no wedding menus, catering prices, rental prices, minimum orders or lead times on these pages, and it does not say whether catering comes with service staff. It is written in German and does not mention English. A couple abroad should use the contact form or email to describe the date, the venue and the guest count, and ask what a full catering offer would include.

Who it suits

Fotra suits couples marrying around Grenchen, Solothurn and the villages on its venue list who want a practical, flexible supplier: equipment only for a do-it-yourself celebration in a forest hut, or grills, a goulash cannon or full catering for a larger party. Its venue list is a real help for finding a place. Because rental and catering come from one address, a couple can settle glasses, plates, grills and food in a single conversation. It is less suited to a couple looking for a fine-dining menu, since the site shows none.