Rivella profit sinks by a third

Rivella profits were down by a third last year. Rivella

The Rivella soft drinks concern reports that profits last year fell by a third to SFr3.9 million, although market share in Switzerland went up slightly to 13.7 per cent.

At a news conference in Zurich, Rivella announced that sales in Switzerland went up by 11.7 per cent to 85 million litres, with an additional 16 million litres produced for foreign markets.

However, the group said that it had not achieved its goal of establishing Rivella as a mass market product in Britain.

“We have decided to limit our expansion on the other side of the English Channel but Rivella will continue to be distributed as a niche product,” said André Barth, head of Rivell International.

Sales in the largest foreign market, the Netherlands, increased slightly, although Rivella’s market share decreased slightly. Mr Barth said for the first time in ten years, there was stagnation.

Rivella said that its green tea drink, introduced last year, had exceeded its “wildest dreams”, with production reaching 13.4 million litres.

The financial officer, Felix Schönle, said that considerable investments made in 1999 on both the foreign and domestic markets led the company to believe it had a “rosy future” ahead.

Sales for the first six months of the year have shot up by 21 per cent, in particular because of the good weather in May and June. The company is expecting an increase in turnover of 10 per cent for the year as a whole.

Invented in 1952 by Robert Barth, the company’s chairman, Rivella is a milk serum drink made from natural ingredients.

swissinfo with agencies