Switzerland’s Emmental cheese industry is still rocking from the shock of a 2000 tonne drop in sales of the AOC cheese to major export market Italy during last year. But, luckily for the Swiss cheesemakers, that market collapse was the only serious one in Emmental international sales during 2011. The cheesemakers’ representative organisation Emmental Switzerland reported this April that AOC Emmental sales for 2011 had reached 24,290 t by the end of the year. The 2010 figure was around 24,500 t. Helping the result was a long awaited increased in domestic market sales indicating that the majority of Swiss consumers are still buying their own Emmental in the face of much cheaper imported products.

Fuelling an optimistic feeling for the present year is a mini-boom for Swiss Emmental on all markets for the first quarter of 2012 with tonnage sales reported to be up on the year by as much as 30%. But it won’t all be good news, warns Emmental Switzerland. Currency exchange with the strong Swiss Franc will negatively affect sales, it is feared. And the organisation wants to combat this situation in Europe by expanding its promotion and marketing in countries outside of Europe.