Retail sales of food fell after the lockdown in Switzerland ended, but they are significantly higher than in May and June 2019.
The opening of catering establishments in mid-May and the opening of the borders in mid-June led to a drop in food sales.
KEYSTONE
The end of the lockdown has lowered the sale of food in the retail trade compared to April, according to a special report on Friday from the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). However, sales remain significantly higher than in May and June 2019.
The opening of catering establishments in mid-May and the opening of the borders in mid-June led to a drop in food sales. On the other hand, compared to the previous year, the volumes sold of foodstuffs (including drinks) increased by 18.3% to reach 601 million francs compared to the second quarter of 2019, and those of organic products by 23.5%. for a total of 66.6 million francs.
The pandemic has also had an impact on prices. The producer prices for meat were in June 2020 between 2.2% (pigs) and 9.2% (calves) higher than those of June 2019. The producer price in June was 3.3% more high (2 cents) than the previous year. Cheese exports, which fell sharply in April, are almost back to their pre-crisis level.
Fruits and vegetables also sold much more with additional demand varying between 4% and 70%. Demand was particularly strong for citrus fruits, apples, bananas, onions and carrots.
Shopping tourism in the spring was almost impossible due to the border closures. The share of purchases made abroad in the total value was thus around 0.3% for foodstuffs in the second quarter of 2020. For the same period in 2019, this figure was 1.8% and 2 , 1% in 2018.
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