Tag Archives: Business

Swiss sugar is facing stiff competition from European imports (Keystone) The Swiss sugar industry is facing stiff competition from Europe and is calling for political measures to save the industry. At a press conference in Bern on Friday, industry representatives warned that the scrapping of European quotas had flooded the Swiss market with cheap European products. The Swiss Farmer’s Unionexternal link (USP), Swiss...

Barry Callebaut released the all new Ruby chocolate flavour last year (Barry Callebaut) - Click to enlarge Despite a decline in domestic consumption, sales of Swiss chocolate grew by 3.1% in 2017 thanks to foreign demand. On Thursday, the Federation of Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers (Chocosuisse) reported total sales of CHF1.85 billion ($1.98 billion) for the year. The volume of chocolate sold also increased...

A good year for Swiss hotels, 2017 is when the Bürgenstock Resort (pictured) opened above Lake Lucerne. (© KEYSTONE / EQ IMAGES / Melanie Duchene) - Click to enlarge After several difficult years, the Swiss hotel industry is recovering. There were 37.4 million overnight stays in 2017 – 5.2% more than in the previous year and nearly as many as the record years of 1990 and 2008. The increase came from locals...

The Federal Council believes that the change would not increase the risk of crime. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The deadline of 20 years to exchange recalled banknotes should be abolished, the Federal Council suggested on Wednesday. The current system, which was introduced in 1921, operates under the assumption that discontinued notes which are not returned to the bank within the exchange deadline have...

Pallets in the warehouse of the logistics center of one of Switzerland's main online shops (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Swiss consumers are increasingly turning to the internet for shopping. Online sales were up by 10% in 2017, with a 23% increase in online purchases from abroad. The total sales generated from online shopping in 2017 was CHF8.6 billion ($9.2 billion) last year, with CHF1.6 billion going to...

Running for 57 kilometres under the Swiss Alps, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest rail tunnel in the world and took 17 years to build. (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The 2018 European Railway Award has been awarded to two pioneers of the  Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest rail tunnel in the world that runs under the Gotthard massif in the Swiss Alps. Peter Jedelhauser of Swiss Railways and Renzo...

The chocolate for Walmart is produced in Coop's new production centre near Basel, named "Schoggihüsli" (Swiss-German for "little chocolate house"). (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Swiss retailer Coop is producing bars for Walmart’s own-brand chocolate, the SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday. The chocolate is produced in a newly established production centre near Basel and has been available in Walmart stores since...

French bus company owners regard the payments from Switzerland to CarPostal as illegal government subsidies by the Swiss Post. (SRF-SWI) - Click to enlarge The Post has been operating its French subsidiary, CarPostal France at a huge financial loss, reported Swiss public television, SRF, on Monday. The company is also accused of having used a price dumping policy to unfairly increase its market share in...

Demonstrators turned out in support of the Swiss News Agency strike earlier this month, saying cuts mean "information is threatened" (Keystone) - Click to enlarge After three weeks of talks, management and staff at the Swiss News Agency (SDA-ATS) have not managed to reach an agreement on job cuts, and are now calling for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to mediate. Both sides agreed to the call....

ICO's have been fuelled particularly by bitcoins (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The Swiss financial watchdog has published guidelines on digital currency fundraisers – known as initial coin offerings – under which it will regulate some ICOs, either under anti-money laundering laws or as securities. The Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) says the guidelines “also define the information FINMA...