Exports save Swiss food industry blushes
growth in export markets for the Swiss food industry last year. But
with cheap imports taking market share at home, and the strength of
the franc impacting value sales abroad, there are still tough times
ahead for many Swiss producers.
The Swiss food industry posted sales of SF13 billion (€8.4bn) in 2002, with declining sales at home for the most part offset by improvements in export sales.
The latest figures, released by the Swiss food industry federation (FIAL), do not include alcoholic drinks or ingredients, but for the first time this year do include results from the meat processing and grain milling industries, making comparisons with the previous year impossible.
Domestic sales were SF11.4 billion in 2002, some 87 per cent of total output, while exports accounted for 13 per cent of total sales at SF1.66 billion.
Almost every sector of the industry saw a decline in domestic sales, FIAL said, with just meat products, baby food and, to a lesser extent, ice cream, reporting gains compared to 2001.
Fresh meat was the biggest sector last year, with sales of just over SF2 billion. The dairy products sector came second with sales of SF1.8 billion, while convenience food (frozen, chilled and canned) was third with SF1.75 billion.
The meat products sector performed well with sales of SF1.67 billion, while there was also a solid performance from that most archetypal Swiss product, chocolate, whose sales rose to SF1.3 billion.
The tough conditions for domestic producers look set to continue as imports increase their share of the market. In some categories, such as biscuits, imports already account for more than 50 per cent of sales, and the situation for Swiss manufacturers is likely to get worse in the current year, FIAL predicted.
While the strength of the Swiss franc and the tough economic conditions in some markets took their toll on exports in value terms, there was nonetheless an increase in volume sales to other countries, with almost every sector of the industry registering gains.
Breakfast drinks and edible oils and margarine showed the greatest increases in export volumes, albeit from a low base, although there were also good performances from the chocolate sector and from canned foods. Exports account for 42 per cent of all fondue sales, 37 per cent of chocolate sales, 35 per cent of soluble coffee sales, 28 per cent of biscuit sales and 27 per cent of soup, sauces and condiment sales.
The contrasting performances at home and abroad are prompting increasing numbers of Swiss food manufacturers to look to export markets, with the US and the EU the chief targets. FIAL has also stepped up its calls for the Swiss government to finalise its proposed free trade agreement with the EU in a bid to boost trade to the trading bloc, soon to include 25 members.
