Switzerland: 4 bn Mark Passed for the First Time

 
With a net turnover of CHF4,009 bn (€2.5 bn), the 22 largest foodservice providers in the land of the Matterhorn (without hotel trade) achieved exactly 6.3% more revenues in 2008 than in the previous year (2007: +3.9%). These were the best growth figures for the top-end of the sector since 2000. And the forecast for 2009 promises a further increase. The top 3 players are Migros, McDonald's and SV.
 
At last, an up-turn at the top end of the Swiss market of more than 5%. This has only happened once in the last ten years ... in 2000, when the figure was 7.7%. Yes, indeed, 2008 was, as business years go, a good 12 months for the top 22, with an increase in sales of 6.3% and a 4.6% increase in the number of units. 8 out of 22 companies have announced doubledigit increases (Two Spice +32.1%; Gamag +29.7% and Valentino +24.2%). In contrast, only two names present marginally negative figures (Mövenpick -0.7% und Manor -0.1%). There is no doubt about it: from a long-term point of view, 2008 was an excellent, vintage year. Though it needs to be said that there was very mixed success in the foodservice business during the UEFA cup in Switzerland (and Austria). Many of the supplementary activities fell below expectations as far as sales were concerned.
 
Without the change of mood following the banking crash in the autumn, 2008 might even have become a record year, unrivalled since the end of the 90s. Altogether, the 22 companies in the ranking represent exactly 2,017 units (the first time, too, that this figure has topped the 2,000 mark). This results in an average turnover of broadly CHF2 m per outlet. Switzerland means almost 30,000 businesses in the hospitality sector, with a turnover of more than CHF20 bn - almost two thirds in the foodservice industry, a shade more than a third in the hotel industry, rather more than 200,000 jobs and, hence, the fourth largest employer in the country. In broad terms, staffing costs in the gastronomy industry average out at 45% - unequivocally one of the highest figures in the whole of Europe.
 
The structures appear to be pretty much fixed, the cake has long since been divided up and major expansion is possible only as a result of takeovers.
 

 
| 20 February 2010 | Gretel Weiß |