As consumer choice proliferates, people will rely even more on online reviews to inform their decisions and navigate offerings. Reviews have become a powerful tool and valuable source of insight for individuals and businesses alike.

The problem we have today is that hundreds of millions of people are feeding their valuable insights currently into proprietary data silos of a few dominant platforms, where they cannot be used for the public good.

The Open Reviews Association is a non-profit initiative to change that. Our vision is a future in which everyone can share and make use of reviews freely.

Which is why I'm writing my reviews on https://mangrove.reviews/ (from the Open Reviews Association) now instead of Google Reviews and Tripadvisor, which are both American and proprietary too. Mangrove is far from being as refined and known as the popular options but I choose to support them because I feel like they're going in the right direction.

Some highlights:

• They're FOSS
• Big focus on privacy (accounts without the need for personal data, not even an email)
• The Open Reviews Association is Swiss
• You can review Places of Interests (based on OSM), Websites, Companies and Books
• It's already integrated in Mapcomplete.org
• The data is downloadable

You can read more about it on https://open-reviews.net/ or the link above. What do you think about it?

Translated from German (with DeepL):

The Swiss messenger service Threema is being acquired by the German investment company Comitis Capital. Both the company and Threema itself emphasize that the arrival of the new investor will not lead to any significant changes for the time being. The company headquarters and servers will remain in Switzerland, and the management team will stay unchanged.

A financial investor with a broad portfolio

Comitis Capital is a young private equity firm, not a technology company. It invests in various industries, including a UK-based supplier of vegan meat alternatives and a manufacturer of dog accessories.

Its business model consists of providing financial support to promising companies so that they can grow and establish themselves internationally. “Comitis now clearly sees this potential in Threema too,” says SRF digital editor Tanja Eder.

Data protection as a business model

The strong focus on data protection is considered a key strength of the messenger. Precisely because US tech companies are coming under increasing criticism and digital sovereignty is gaining in importance, Comitis sees this aspect as a clear unique selling point.

Whether this will remain the case in the long term is unclear, according to Eder. If Comitis were to conclude at some point that it would be more profitable to collect Threema customer data or sell the company, no one could prevent them from doing so.

Trust in the authorities remains an issue

In Switzerland, federal authorities and the military also use Threema for internal communication. Even though everyone involved is aware that there is no such thing as absolute security, Threema still has advantages over its competitors.

For example, Threema's source code is openly accessible. Experts in the fields of data protection, IT security, and research regularly check whether the company is keeping its promises. Government agencies can also carry out their own checks.

Hardly any alternatives on the market

Good alternatives to Threema are rare. “Apart from WhatsApp, which dominates the market, there is simply not much room for other messenger services,” notes the digital editor.

Signal is considered another secure messenger alongside Threema. However, it is operated from the US, albeit by a non-profit foundation and financed by donations. In Switzerland, Proton offers encrypted emails, but does not have its own messenger service.

“Given this limited offering, we can only hope that privacy-friendly communication services will gain in importance in the future,” says Eder.

Hi! I've been following the #buyeuropean movement since about a year and amidst current political events I felt the need to deepen my engagement. All existing lists and guides have been a great resource but I still felt like they didn't have an impact big enough on my consumer habits. This is why I did some research on everyday products in my local supermarkets for us people in Switzerland.

The following lists have been created with the goal to endorse products and alternatives that are as local as possible and belong to companies that are somewhat established but without a horrendous reputation. This is why Nestlé is in the avoid section but if you don't care much about that you can see them as alternatives instead.

Keep in mind that this is a list written by me, a single person, so it's likely to be influenced by my consumer habits, my lifestyle, my location etc. If anyone has more recommendations or finds something was ill-researched, you're most welcome to contribute. I might edit this list later on myself.

To the list:

• The company in Brackets is the manufacturer or - if owned externally - the parent company of the manufacturer. For research I've been looking up predominantly Wikipedia or the brands official page.
• To almost every product there are store brand alternatives like M-Classic and M-Budget (Migros), naturaplan, fine food, Karma and Prix Garantie (Coop) and others (Denner, Lidl, Aldi, etc.) which I didn't bother to list everywhere. But those are good alternatives most of the time, so don't forget about them!

Edit: I just noticed on some Lemmy clients the <br> doesn't work. Sorry about that. You can view the correctly formatted post here (blorpblorp).

Food

Dairy

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Fresh Cheese | Philadelphia (Mondelez 🇺🇸) | Filona (Züger Frischkäse 🇨🇭)Cantadou (Bel Group 🇫🇷)Tartare (Savencia 🇫🇷) | | Yoghurt | Hirz (Nestlé 🇨🇭)LC1 (Nestlé 🇨🇭) | Emmi 🇨🇭Activia (Danone 🇫🇷) |

Frozen section

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Frozen Snacks | Buitoni (Nestlé 🇨🇭) | Dr. Oetker 🇩🇪Findus (Nomad Foods 🇬🇧)Kern & Sammet 🇨🇭 | | Ice Cream | Extrême (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Frisco (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Häagen-Dazs (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Mövenpick (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Maxibon / Rakete / Pralinato (Nestlé 🇨🇭)(Ben&Jerry's 🇺🇸 (Unilever 🇬🇧)) | Creme d'Or (Migros 🇨🇭)Gasparini 🇨🇭Kalte Lust 🇨🇭Emmi 🇨🇭 |

Grains

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Mexican inspired | Old El Paso (General Mills 🇺🇸)Pancho Villa (General Mills 🇺🇸) | Store brandsFiesta del Sol (Migros 🇨🇭) | | Rice | Ben's Original (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸) | Store brandsTom's Best (Coop 🇨🇭)Mister Rice (Migros 🇨🇭) |

Sauces

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Sauces | Heinz 🇺🇸Thomy (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Maggi (Nestlé 🇨🇭) | Store brandsHugo 🇨🇭 |

Breakfast

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Cereals | Kelloggs (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Cini Minis / Lion Cereals / Cookie Crisp (Nestlé 🇨🇭) | Familia 🇨🇭Farmer (Migros🇨🇭)Country (Coop 🇨🇭)Alnatura 🇩🇪 | | Chocolate Spreads | De Rujiter (Mondelez 🇺🇸) | Lindt 🇨🇭Ovomaltine 🇨🇭 (Associated British Foods 🇬🇧)Caotina 🇨🇭 (Associated British Foods 🇬🇧)Nutella (Ferrero 🇮🇹)Nocciolata (Rigoni di Asiago 🇮🇹) |

Snacks

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Salty snacks | Pringles (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Doritos (PepsiCo 🇺🇸)Pancho Villa (General Mills 🇺🇸)TUC (Mondelez 🇺🇸)Lay's (Pepsico 🇺🇸) | Zweifel 🇨🇭Farm Chips 🇨🇭 (Migros)Tyrrells 🇬🇧 | | Chocolate | Toblerone (Mondelez 🇺🇸)Cailler (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Smarties (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Kitkat (Nestlé 🇨🇭)M&Ms (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Malteser (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Twix / Snickers / Mars / Milky Ways / Bounty (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Reese's (Hershey 🇺🇸)Balisto (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Mikado (Mondelez 🇺🇸)Milka (Mondelez 🇺🇸) | Lindt 🇨🇭Ragusa (Camille Bloch🇨🇭)Torino (Camille Bloch🇨🇭)Frey (Migros🇨🇭)Kägi 🇨🇭Halba 🇨🇭Ovomaltine 🇨🇭 (Associated British Foods 🇬🇧)Kinder (Ferrero 🇮🇹)Toffifee (August Storck 🇩🇪)Knoppers (August Storck 🇩🇪) | | Cookies | Oreo (Mondelez 🇺🇸) | Kambly 🇨🇭Wernli 🇨🇭 | | Sweets | Sugus (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Skittles (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸) | Trolli 🇩🇪Haribo 🇩🇪Nimm 2 (August Storck 🇩🇪) | | Chewing gum / Mints | Hubba Bubba (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Airwaves (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸) | Ricola 🇨🇭Stimorol (Perfetti van Melle 🇮🇹🇳🇱)Mentos (Perfetti van Melle 🇮🇹🇳🇱)Fisherman's Friend 🇬🇧Tictac (Ferrero 🇮🇹) |

Beverages

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Alcohol | Jack Daniels 🇺🇸Jim Beam Bourbon 🇺🇸Woodford Reserve 🇺🇸Budweiser 🇺🇸 | I don't drink much alcohol, suggestions welcomeJohnny Walker 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (Diageo 🇬🇧) | | Soft Drinks | Pepsi (PepsiCo 🇺🇸)Gatorade (PepsiCo 🇺🇸)7-up (PepsiCo 🇺🇸)Dr Pepper (PepsiCo 🇺🇸)Capri-Sun (Mondelez 🇺🇸)Oasis (Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸)Coca-Cola / Fanta / Sprite (Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸)Fuzetea/Fusetea (Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸)Mezzo-Mix (Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸)Powerade (Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸)Schweppes (Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸)Monster Energy 🇺🇸Arizona 🇺🇸Nestea (Nestlé 🇨🇭) | Ramseier 🇨🇭Sinalco 🇩🇪Rivella 🇨🇭Elmer 🇨🇭El Tony Mate (intelligentfood 🇨🇭)Migros Ice Tea (Migros 🇨🇭)Focus Water (Rivella 🇨🇭)Sirup (Migros 🇨🇭)Pepita (Mineralquelle Eptingen 🇨🇭)Flauder (Goba 🇨🇭)Farmer (Adelbodner 🇨🇭)Red Bull 🇦🇹Volvic (Danone 🇫🇷)Vitamin Well 🇸🇪Isostar (Associated British Foods 🇬🇧) | | Water | Valser (Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸)S. Pellegrino (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Henniez (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Vittel (Nestlé 🇨🇭) | tap-water duhKnutwiler 🇨🇭Rhäzünser (Feldschlösschen 🇨🇭)Adelbodner 🇨🇭Aproz (Migros 🇨🇭)Swiss Alpina (Coop 🇨🇭)Evian (Danone 🇫🇷) | | Coffee | Nescafé (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Nespresso (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Starbucks 🇺🇸 | Hochstrasser 🇨🇭Bertschi 🇨🇭Henauer 🇨🇭Vicafe 🇨🇭Chicco D'Oro 🇨🇭CoffeeB 🇨🇭Delizio 🇨🇭Lavazza 🇮🇹L'Or (Jacobs Douwe Egberts 🇳🇱)Tchibo 🇩🇪 | | Fruit Juice | Innocent (>90% Coca-Cola Co. 🇺🇸) | Sun Queen (Migros 🇨🇭)Biotta (Orior 🇨🇭)Anna's Best (Migros 🇨🇭)Sluups (Fresh Drink 🇨🇭)Andros 🇫🇷Granini (Eckes-Granini 🇩🇪)Alnatura 🇩🇪True Fruits 🇩🇪Hohes C (Eckes-Granini 🇩🇪) |

Non-food

Household

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Laundry detergents | Ariel (P&G 🇺🇸)Lenor (P&G 🇺🇸)Febreze (P&G 🇺🇸) | Held 🇨🇭Total (Migros 🇨🇭)Elan (Migros 🇨🇭)Washo 🇨🇭Persil / Perwoll (Henkel 🇩🇪)Frosch (Werne & Mertz 🇩🇪)Omo (Unilever 🇬🇧)Vanish (Reckitt Benckiser 🇬🇧) | | Cleaning utensils | Swiffer (P&G 🇺🇸)Scotch-Brite (3M 🇺🇸)Scrub Daddy 🇺🇸 | Creaclean 🇨🇭Twist (Migros 🇨🇭)Flup (Coop 🇨🇭)Leifheit 🇩🇪Vileda (Freudenberg 🇩🇪) | | Cleaning | Ajax (Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸) | Durgol 🇨🇭Potz (Migros 🇨🇭)Cif (Unilever 🇬🇧)Cillit Bang (Reckitt Benckiser 🇬🇧)Attitude 🇨🇦Dettol (Reckitt Benckiser 🇬🇧)Frosch (Werne & Mertz 🇩🇪) | | Soap | Palmolive (Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸)Le Petit Marseillais (Kenvue 🇺🇸) | Method (Held 🇨🇭)I am (Migros 🇨🇭)pH-Balance (Migros 🇨🇭)Well (Coop 🇨🇭)Nivea (Beiersdorf 🇩🇪)Dettol (Reckitt Benckiser 🇬🇧) |

Drugstore

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Dental hygiene | Colgate (Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸)Elmex (Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸)Oral-B (P&G 🇺🇸)Listerine (Kenvue 🇺🇸)Meridol (Colgate-Palmolive 🇺🇸) | Curaprox 🇨🇭Dentamed (Coop 🇨🇭)Candida (Migros 🇨🇭)Trisa 🇨🇭Odol (Haleon 🇬🇧)Parodontax (Haleon 🇬🇧)Sensodyne (Haleon 🇬🇧)Philips 🇳🇱Signal (Unilever 🇬🇧) | | Shaving | Gillette (P&G 🇺🇸) | Wilkinson Sword 🇬🇧Well (Coop 🇨🇭)Bic 🇬🇧 | | Intimate hygiene | Always (P&G 🇺🇸)Tampax (P&G 🇺🇸)Carefree (Johnson & Johnson 🇺🇸) | Molfina (Migros 🇨🇭)o.b. 🇩🇪Cosmea (Pelz Group 🇩🇪)Duchesse (Müller 🇩🇪)Tena (Essity 🇸🇪) | | Haircare | Head & Shoulders (P&G 🇺🇸)Pantene (P&G 🇺🇸) | Belherbal (Migros 🇨🇭)Well (Coop 🇨🇭)Rausch 🇨🇭Garnier (L'Oréal 🇫🇷)Elsève (L'Oréal 🇫🇷)Schwarzkopf (Henkel 🇩🇪)Syoss (Henkel 🇩🇪) | | Skincare | Neutrogena (Kenvue 🇺🇸)Le Petit Marseillais (Kenvue 🇺🇸) | Weleda 🇨🇭pH-Balance (Migros 🇨🇭)Kneipp 🇨🇭Nivea (Beiersdorf 🇩🇪)Eucerin (Beiersdorf 🇩🇪)CeraVe (L'Oréal 🇫🇷)La Roche Posay (L'Oréal 🇫🇷) | | Tissues | Kleenex (Kimberly-Clark 🇺🇸) | Linsoft (Migros 🇨🇭)Well (Coop 🇨🇭)Tempo (Essity 🇸🇪) | | Lip balms | Burts Bees (Clorox 🇺🇸) | Labello (Beiersdorf 🇩🇪)Vaseline (Unilever 🇬🇧) | | Makeup | NYX 🇺🇸 (L'Oréal 🇫🇷)Maybelline 🇺🇸 (L'Oréal 🇫🇷) | L'Oréal Paris 🇫🇷 |

Pets

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Pet food | Whiskas (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Sheba (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Cesar (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Dreamies (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Pedigree (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Exelcat (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Perfect Fit (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸)Edgar-Cooper (General Mills 🇺🇸)Purina (Nestlé 🇨🇭)Friskies (Nestlé 🇨🇭) | Delibest (Delipet 🇨🇭)Vitakraft 🇨🇭Lily's Kitchen 🇬🇧 | | Other stuff | Catsan (Mars Inc. 🇺🇸) | Optipet (Martec Handels 🇨🇭) |

Some extras

There is still so much left to look into - clothing, outdoor, kitchen ware, cars, traveling, etc. - but because my time is limited and this post is already getting pretty long here are just a few more addings I felt strongly about.

| Category | To avoid | Alternative | |

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| | Payment | Visa 🇺🇸Mastercard 🇺🇸American Express 🇺🇸 | Twint 🇨🇭 (wherever possible)Auf Rechnung | | Second hand buying / selling | Facebook Marketplace (Meta 🇺🇸) | Ricardo 🇨🇭Tutti 🇨🇭Marko 🇨🇭 | | Streaming | Netflix 🇺🇸Amazon Prime 🇺🇸Disney Plus 🇺🇸etc. | playsuisse.ch 🇨🇭SRF 🇨🇭filmfriend.ch 🇨🇭cinu.ch 🇨🇭Arte.tv 🇫🇷🇩🇪Your local cinemaYour local libraryThe high seas 🏴‍☠️ |

If you got this far thank you for scrolling through and I hope this helped someone in their endeavour. My eyes have certainly been opened regarding some brands I never questioned or believed to be very Swiss.

Usually when alternatives for messaging apps are recommended it's Signal, Threema or Element but all of them still seem to have small inconveniences (Signal is American, Threema isn't free and Element just seems too complicated).

Today I stumbled upon Delta Chat for the first time and it seems to be the ideal solution. It's european, free, open-source, decentralised, usable on almost any device and privacy focused. But the fact that I've never heard about it before makes me hesitant.

Has anyone of you used it and can share their experience?

Edit: Here's a link to their official website: https://delta.chat/en/

Specific request but I only just realised that it’s an amazon company. I use it to look up film data and ratings/reviews as well as track films I watched and those I want to watch in the future.

Alternatives I’ve seen are TMDB which looks nice, but that’s from the US too as far as I know and letterboxd which is from New Zealand but takes the data from TMDB anyways. Also I’m not looking to have my watchlists public.

Any recommendations?