© Astra490 | Dreamstime.com
In 2018, Switzerland’s population consumed around 87,000 tonnes of chocolate.
However, average chocolate consumption dropped from 10.5 kg per person in 2017 to 10.3 kg in 2018, a decline of roughly 2%.
This decline reflects last year’s longer hotter summer, according to the industry association Chocosuisse.
The fall in consumption of Swiss chocolate in Switzerland declined further, dropping by 3.4%. The gap was filled by increased imports of chocolate from outside Switzerland.
Based on 2016 and 2017 figures Switzerland won the Willy Wonka award with per capita chocolate consumption of 10.5 kg. Germany (9.2), Lithuania (9.0) and Austria (8.7) were next.
The Swiss chocolate industry, which employed 4,665 people and produced 190,000 tonnes of chocolate, generated sales of CHF 1.7 billon in 2018.
Key export markets were Germany, UK, Canada and France. The EU was the largest and fastest growing market for Swiss chocolate in 2018.
While Swiss sales of Swiss chocolate accounted for 27% of 2018 volume they accounted for 43% of sales revenue. It is unclear how much of this if any results from higher Swiss prices and how much relates to Swiss consumers selecting higher quality products. What is clear though is that Swiss chocolate is often cheaper when bought over the border. For example the same bar of Lindt chocolate bought in Cora in France for 1.45 euros (CHF 1.62) costs CHF 2.95 in Coop in Switzerland. That’s a 45% discount.
Full story here Are you the author?
Tags: Business,newsletter
