Swiss chocolate seduces the taste buds again
Chocolate sales in Switzerland regained momentum in 2021, after having fallen sharply twelve months earlier, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Cocoa beans before processing.
Tagesanzeiger
The total turnover achieved by Swiss manufacturers jumped 11.8% to 1.71 billion francs. An amount, however, down 4.2% compared to 2019.
Resumption of exports
Sales made in Switzerland by the 16 Swiss chocolate manufacturers amounted to 783 million francs last year, 7.7% more than in 2020, wrote the umbrella organization Chocosuisse on Tuesday. Exports meanwhile showed more sustained growth of 15.5% to 926 million, says the Federation of Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers.
While export revenues have almost returned to the level presented in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic, the drop being limited to 0.4%, those made in Switzerland were still 8.4% lower than the turnover achieved. two years ago. Germany (25,689 tons), France (12,948 tons), Canada (11,791 tons), the United Kingdom (10,535 tons) and the United States (7,837 tons) represented the main markets for Swiss manufacturers.
Competitiveness and increase in imports on the national market
As for imports from foreign chocolate manufacturers, they have continued to grow, their share of the Swiss market amounting to 42% in 2021. In the space of ten years, this has increased by almost a quarter (2011 : 34%). The fall in the annual consumption of Swiss chocolate (from 8 kg to 6.6 kg per inhabitant) is half responsible for this, the other half being due to the increase in imported chocolate (from 4 kg to 4.7 kg per inhabitant) .
At the end of December 2021, the 16 member companies of Chocosuisse employed 4,378 people, a workforce that was once again down, reaching 5% compared to 2019. The umbrella organization notes that production costs have increased further, reflecting an increase rise in commodity prices, as Parliament extended the tariff on sugar imports, which gave foreign chocolate makers “a new cost advantage”.
The Swiss subsidiaries of listed companies Nestlé (Cailler), Lindt&Sprüngli and Barry Callebaut, but also houses such as Camille Bloch, Favarger, Villars, Sprüngli, Maestrani, Stella or Läderach are members of the association, in the same way as Chocolat Frey, owned distribution giant Migros and Halba, owned by rival Coop.
AWP
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