Switzerland needs more butter
The branch organisation for the dairy sector BO Milch in Switzerland has submitted an application to the Swiss government for further butter imports of 500 tonnes. The dairy industry has in the past few months applied for two applications for butter imports outside the existing partial tariff quota amounting to 2,800 tons. In the meantime, it has been shown that these quantities are not sufficient for a secure domestic butter supply.
A working group set up by the BO Milch therefore decided to apply to the Federal Council for the further tranche of 500 tonnes.
The additional tonnagens is intended to ensure the availability of butter in Switzerland for the Christmas season. The assessment, that further imports are necessary, was shared by a large majority of the working group.
The industry assumed until September that Swiss production, together with the imports made, would be sufficient for the rest of the year. In the meantime, however, it has been shown that this assessment was too optimistic.
On the one hand, butter sales are stable at a high level and, on the other hand, market experts expect increasing domestic sales volumes in the coming months due to the Covid-19 situation.
This is because catering at home is increasing and shopping tourism is decreasing. Both of these lead to significantly higher domestic butter sales, as the figures from spring have shown.