Method for improving export opportunities for Swiss foods

The agriculture and food sector is faced with major challenges. The increasing saturation of domestic markets means that the sales potential for Swiss foodstuffs lies outside of the country. Consequently, the Swiss agricultural sector is increasingly reliant on the export-oriented food industry and the support of export promotion. Working together with the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG), the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)-led research partnership including partner institutions Wellershoff & Partners, the umbrella organisation Federation of the Swiss Food Industries (FIAL), and the trade-promotion organisation Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) pursued the aim of developing a tool for identifying and improving the long-term sales potential of Swiss foods. A new set of methods allowed estimates of demand to be combined with an economic trend-growth model. The results were processed and published in the user-friendly, publicly accessible «Export Potential Monitor».