Swiss confectioners report a decline in turnover despite sales increase

Export revenue rose as a result of the increased sales volume.

2016 saw the 14 industrial manufacturers of Swiss confectionery once again suffer revenue losses. Despite sales volumes remaining virtually the same (+0.2%) at 33,821 tonnes, the sector turnover dropped by 1.4% to 343 million francs. The number of sugar-free products grew by 6.0%, driven by foreign sales

Domestically, companies in the Swiss confectionery industry sold 5.2% fewer items in 2016 (5,880 tonnes) compared to the previous year. This resulted in an 8.2% turnover decrease to 87 million francs. While the quantity of imported confectionery increased by 1.0% last year, the total domestic sales volume (local and imported confectionery) decreased by 0.5%. The more intense decline in domestic ownproduction sales saw the local manufacturers’ market share shrink from 23.6% (2015) to 22.5%.

Export business saw a sales volume 27,941 tonnes; corresponding to 1.4% more confectionery sales than the previous year. The 256 million francs in revenue achieved from this rose by 1.1%. Exported sugar-free products recorded an increase of 8.2%, totalling 61.0% of total exports. 103 countries were supplied with Swiss confectionery in 2016, with Germany (23.3%), USA (20.4%), France (9.8%) and Spain (7.2%) once again the biggest export markets.