Consumed less than ten kilograms per capita for the first time since 1982.
The Swiss ate as little chocolate in 2020 as they have not in forty years. This decline was solely at the expense of the local chocolate industry. And sales also stalled in the export business. The branch turnover collapsed by a good 15 percent.
Per capita chocolate consumption in Switzerland fell below ten kilograms for the first time since 1982, at 9.9 kilograms, as the Association of Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers Chocosuisse announced on Monday. Only in 2019 did consumption stabilize after years of decline.
In the wake of the corona crisis, restaurants, hotels and cafes were closed for several months and business with international tourists was almost idle. As a result, local chocolate manufacturers turned around 15 percent less domestically. Especially bitter for them:
At the same time, consumers consumed more foreign chocolate. Of this, 1.8 percent more was imported in 2020. The import share rose to a new all-time high of 43 percent after 41 percent in the previous year.
Even in the actual main profit business – exports – things did not go much better: There sales fell by almost 14 percent. 70 percent of the chocolate produced by the local industry is exported. Overall, the industry had sales of 1.53 billion francs, 14.5 percent less than in the previous year. The amount of chocolate produced in Switzerland fell by over 10 percent to 180,000 tons.
Switzerland's production location also continued to lose weight in 2020: after a chocolate factory was closed in 2017 due to relocation of production to France, another chocolate factory had to close its doors forever in 2020, writes Chocosuisse. As is well known, the Gysi chocolate factory in Bern had to cease operations at the end of June.
According to the information, 16 chocolate factories remain in Switzerland today. Across the entire industry, the number of employees fell by 4.8 percent to just under 4,400.
Chocosuisse sees the chocolate industry under further pressure. The start of 2021 was characterized by ongoing challenges. In January 2021, the export volume decreased by 15.3 percent, but imports of foreign chocolate increased by 5.4 percent.
This development is promoted by the asymmetrical border protection of raw materials and processed products: As a result, certain raw materials are twice as expensive in Switzerland as abroad, the association warned. With the establishment of a minimum border protection for sugar demanded by the sugar manufacturers, there is a threat of additional raw material prices. Chocosuisse is calling on politicians to abandon this protectionist measure.
