Mixed bag for Swiss biscuit industry in 2016
Sales and exports of Swiss long-life bakery products, including biscuits, fell in 2016, according to the latest figures, while turnover in the domestic market recovered.
According to the Swiss association of the biscuits and sugar confectionery industries Biscosuisse, the 24 industrial manufacturers of Swiss long-life bakery products sold 0.8% fewer items (43,919 tonnes) compared to 2015, with the associated turnover dropping by 0.8% to CHF448 million.
However, the only positive growth in terms of quantity was recorded for special products (+10.9%), bread-like baked goods (+6.4%) and savoury snacks and nibbles (+5.3%).
Sales volumes for specialities, standard biscuits and long-life freshly baked goods declined a respective 6.9%, 1.3% and 1.1%. Two of the most popular long-life bakery products continue to be the standard biscuits and specialities, which make up about 75% of the overall production.
Following a decrease in sales in 2015, the domestic market recovered again in the previous year. The companies in Switzerland’s long-life bakery product sector sold 1.8% more items in 2016 (31,811 tonnes) compared to 2015. Turnover generated increased by 2% to CHF346.8. Bread-like baked goods, special products and standard biscuits recorded positive growth rates of 7%, 4.9% and 2.1% respectively.
However, savoury snacks and nibbles, long-life freshly baked goods and specialities fell a respective 1.3%, 0.7% and 0.2% year-on-year.
Imports of long-life bakery products rose by 1.1%, compared to the prior year. Domestic turnover (domestic and imported long-life freshly baked goods) increased by a total of 1.5%.
The market share of Swiss manufacturers rose slightly by 0.3% and now amounts to 58.4%. Domestic consumption results in an average per capita consumption of 6.51 kg per annum. This corresponds to a slight increase of more than 30g compared to the previous year.
Following a decline in export business in 2015, the negative development continued to intensify in 2016. According to Biscosuisse, a decline of 7.2% was recorded with regard to the sales volume of 12,109 tonnes of products.
Turnover generated declined by 9.1% to CHF101.2m due to a quantity decrease for specialities (-18.8%) and standard biscuits (-16.7%), as well as long-life freshly baked goods (-2%).
Positive growth, however, was recorded for special products (+18.1%), savoury snacks and nibbles (+10.8%) and bread-like baked goods (+3%).
The export share of total production fell 6.4% to 27.6%. Germany continues to be number one out of the 102 export destinations for Swiss long-life bakery products, with an export share of 29.7%. Other key export countries remain unchanged with France (24.2%), Saudi-Arabia (6.3%) and Sweden (5.8%). Considerable quantity decreases were particularly recorded for deliveries to the United Kingdom (-87%, rank 22 for export destinations), Saudi Arabia (-27%), Germany (-7%), Canada (-66%, rank 14) and Austria (-27%, rank 5).
