The Swiss drank more indigenous wines last year. Consumption increased by 4.7% compared to 2018. For white wines, the increase even reached 10.3%.
In 2019, the Helvetians drank 48 million liters of white wine and 44.3 million liters of red (+ 1.6%), said Thursday the Federal Office of Agriculture (FOAG).
Foreign wines are also increasing: 41 million liters of white wines (+ 5.9%) and 119.8 million liters of reds (+ 3.4%) were sold last year. As for sparkling wines, they continue to be popular, with around twenty million liters (+ 3.3%).
40 bottles per person
A total of 255 million liters of wine were drunk in Switzerland last year. This corresponds to about forty 75 cl bottles per person, specifies the OFAG.
Swiss wines continue to grow in terms of market share. They now represent 37% of the wines consumed in the country (+0.4 percentage points over a year). This share stands at 54.1% for whites (+1) and 27.9% for reds (-0.3). These market share gains are “the result of the good work of Swiss winegrowers and the exceptional quality of Swiss wines,” says OFAG.
In a press release, Swiss Wine Promotion (SWP) “is delighted with these significant results demonstrating the public’s interest in supporting the Swiss vineyard and which encourages them to do more so that Swiss wines deserve their place in the hearts and habits of Swiss ”.
The shadow of the coronavirus
The Swiss viticulture promotion organization is concerned about the future, however. The coronavirus pandemic, which affects in particular the hotel and restaurant sector (HORECA), “is more than worrying”, he writes, asking “strong and consistent support from the Confederation for the promotion of local products, including including wines ”.
OFAG confirms this bleak prospect. Due to the restrictions placed on the HORECA sector to fight the coronavirus pandemic, we should expect wine consumption to contract in 2020, he noted.
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