Swiss retail meat sales dip year-on-year

According to figures from Federal Office for Agriculture, the retail trade sold 4.64 billion francs worth of meat and meat products (Swiss and imported), down 0.7% while volumes also fell 0.7% to 221,468 tonnes.

Turnover was reported to be down in all categories of meat and meat products, except for chicken and sausages. The largest declines were seen in fresh pork (-1.8%) and fresh veal (-2.6%). 

The drop in sales of veal was attributed to the decline in Swiss veal production, with slaughter volumes down by 5.2% compared to the previous year.

The only increase in sales came from sales over the year was of chicken meat (+0.9%) and sausages (+0.8%). 

In the chicken category, thighs (+3.4%) and prepared products such as nuggets, skewers and blends (+11.1%) were the products that contributed the most to this category however chicken breast (-1.8%) and whole chicken (-1.9%) both lost ground. In the sausage section, Vienna sausage sold better (+3.7%), unlike roast sausage (-0.3%) and sausage (-0.6%).

In 2017, consumer spending on meat did not change in Switzerland, averaging CHF 20.95 per kg of meat in all categories (fresh or prepared). 

On average, fresh meat was slightly cheaper (CHF 20.24, or -0.2%), while the average price of processed meat products edged up 0.3% to CHF 22.01. kg.