Swiss sugar confectionery manufacturers under pressure

The proportion of sugar-free products and Swissmedic-registered articles increased. There is a potential for an easing of the regulatory framework. New free-trade agreements are important.

Switzerland‘s industrial sugar confectionery manufacturers sold 1.4% more goods overall than in the previous year. Nevertheless, the sector‘s turnover fell slightly (- 0.1%). Positive growth rates were recorded for, amongst other things, hard sweets (+ 2.9%), which represent the most important product category, with a 69.2% share of total production. The proportion of sugar-free articles rose by 4.9% to 57.7% of total production.

Overall, domestic sales of Swiss-made sugar confectionery fell by 0.2%. The revenues this generated dropped by 1.7% to CHF 80.6 m. The negative trend that has persisted for many years is thus continuing: Since 2013, domestic sales by Swiss manufacturers have fallen by more than 20%. By contrast, the market share of imported goods increased to 76.7%. Most of the significantly cheaper imported goods came from Germany. The increase in imported goods (+ 4.4%) was accompanied by a 3.3% rise in overall domestic sales volume. The market share of Swiss producers shrank to 23.3% (- 3.4%).

Although 1.7% more sugar confectionery was exported, export sales increased by only 0.4% to CHF 285.6 m. The export share of total production increased to 83.0% (2018: 82.7%). Swiss sugar confectionery was sold to 89 countries in 2019. The USA continued to lead the league table (23.9%), followed by Germany, France and Spain.