2019: a good year for Swiss cheese exports
Swiss cheese exports were up last year, especially towards the European market, the Switzerland Cheese Marketing body announced on Friday.
This content was published on February 1, 2020 - 17:25The boosted (+7%) importance of the European market comes as exports to the rest of the world fell slightly (-3.2%) in 2019, a trend that the marketing body said(PDF) was caused by global uncertainty about trade disputes.
In total, 75,877 tonnes of cheese were exported last year, an increase of 4.5% on the previous year, for a value of CHF667.6 million ($693 million).
Over four-fifths of this total went to European countries. Germany represented the destination for a good half of Swiss cheese exports; France and Italy were next biggest markets.
A little under half of all Swiss cheese exports are hard varieties (e.g. Appenzeller).
Imports of cheese were also higher last year, growing by 2.8% to 64,129 tonnes. Over four-fifths of this comes from Italy, while the most popular import varieties are fresh cheese, mozzarella, and quark.
In Switzerland, around 45% of all milk produced is made into cheese, of which the country boasts over 700 types. Some 40% of this is then exported, with rest staying at home.
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