The total area for vegetable cultivation (incl. multiple crops per year) surveyed by the Swiss Central Office for Vegetable Growing and Special Crops (SZG), consisting of the fresh vegetable area (incl. storage areas), the fresh vegetable area (incl. storage area) and the vegetable processing area, amounted to 16,347 hectares in the year under review. This is 372 hectares less than in the previous year and 914 hectares above the average of the previous four years.
Vegetables quantities and qualities
In the year under review, 389,092 tonnes of domestic fresh vegetables (including stored vegetables and excluding processed vegetables) were brought onto the market. Compared with the average for the four previous years, this represents an increase of just under 1%.
Processed vegetables
55,967 tonnes of processed vegetables were harvested. This is 3.4% more than the average for the previous four years. The main products are machine beans, threshing peas, Parisian and baby carrots, leaf spinach and minced spinach. There are also other processed vegetables such as single-cut cabbages and turnips, pickled cucumbers, but also the usual fresh vegetables intended for processing. The latter are becoming more and more important.
Market coverage and supplementary imports/exports
The market volume of fresh vegetables cultivated in Switzerland (including fresh vegetables for processing but excluding typical processing vegetables) amounted to 626,000 tonnes in the year under review. The market volume is calculated from domestic production plus imports minus exports (net quantities) according to Swiss foreign trade statistics. Of this, 66% was produced in Switzerland (including foreign border zones and free zones).
Consumption
In 2018, per capita consumption of fresh vegetables was 71 kg. This is the so-called visible per capita consumption, based on domestic production of fresh vegetables (incl. stock) plus imports minus exports according to Swiss foreign trade statistics. This consumption figure is just under 2 kg below last year's level.
