Swiss confectionery manufacturers remained under pressure in 2021

The period 2019 and 2021 saw total industry turnover fall by around a quarter. As the industry exports over 80% of its products, this result is largely due to the trend in the export business, according to the association Biscosuisse.

Total sales by volume fell by 19.5% to 28,138 tonnes in 2021, with sector-wide turnover declining by 12.9% to CHF 279.2 m. The decline in business already observed in the previous year is primarily a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the political climate also poses a challenge. “In an environment already characterised by rising raw material costs, the increase in the price of Swiss sugar decided by Parliament represents an additional drawback for Switzerland as a production location,“ stated Biscosuisse.

In the sector’s domestic business, both sales volumes (5,075 t) and turnover (CHF 66.9 m) in 2021 were 10.1% and 7.3% below the previous year respectively. Compared to the previous year, imports increased in terms of volume (+ 3.8%) and value (+ 7.9%). The import share of the Swiss sugar confectionery market remains at a very high level (80.7%), having increased by a further 3.0% compared to the previous year. Between 2019 and 2021, the market share of importers in Switzerland rose from 76.7% to 80.7%. Most (48.5%) of the significantly cheaper imported goods in 2021 came from Germany. Per capita consumption, at 3.03 kg, was the same as in the previous year.

Switzerland’s confectioners also suffered setbacks in the export business. While sales by volume fell by 21.3% to 23,063 tonnes, turnover declined by 14.5% to CHF 212.2 m. The export share of total production in 2021 was 82.0%. In 2021, 92 countries were supplied with Swiss confectionery. Germany topped the list of export destinations with a share of 25.5%, followed by the USA (21.1%), France (10.3%), and Spain (7.6%).

By far the most popular confectionery product in 2021 was hard sweets, which accounted for 61.7% of total production. Sales of hard sweets (- 27.3%), jelly and gum sweets (- 9.0%) and other shaped confectionery such as sugar-coated confectionery, chewing gum and marzipan products (- 3.2%) declined. The only positive sales trend was in soft sweets (+ 34.1%). There was also a decline in Swissmedic-registered products (- 10.0%). Sugar-free articles accounted for a share of 57.9% of total production in 2021.