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Swiss sweet tooth sends chocolate sales soaring

Chocolate production is soaring as consumption reaches record levels swissinfo.ch

The Swiss are eating more chocolate than ever with consumption last year increasing by 5.9 per cent. The average Swiss now eats 11.9 kilogrammes of chocolate a year - 400 grammes more than in 1999.

The industry’s association, Chocosuisse, said on Wednesday that total sales volume for Switzerland’s 17 chocolate factories reached a record level of 138,373 tonnes last year.

However, pressure on prices meant that turnover for the year rose by only 0.3 per cent.

Domestic brands are also successfully defending their market share against imports, which accounted for 20 per cent of the Swiss consumption, as against 21 per cent in 1999.

The export market for Swiss chocolate products has also bounced back after two disappointing years. Exports were up 6.8 per cent to 63,945 tonnes, making 2000 the best ever year apart from 1997.

Germany munched through 26 per cent of all exports, followed by Britain with 11 per cent and France with 10 per cent.

swissinfo with agencies

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