Swiss chocolate proves to be crisis-resistant
The Swiss chocolate industry has set a new record for the fifth year in a row, showing that in a crisis people still have a sweet tooth.
Sales rose equally at home and abroad in 2008, Chocosuisse, the association representing Swiss chocolate manufacturers, said on Monday.
The 18 producers saw sales increase by two per cent on 2007 to 184,969 tons, with turnover improving by 9.3 per cent to SFr1.818 billion ($1.56 billion). More than 60 per cent of all the chocolate produced was exported.
Germany led the way, accounting for 14.8 per cent of all turnover from exports, followed closely by Britain (13.3 per cent).
France (9.6 per cent) and the United States (7.4 per cent) were the third and fourth most important export destinations respectively.
The record amount sold was the equivalent of 12.4 kilos of chocolate for each Swiss resident, an increase of 100g – or one bar.
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