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Bonn (dpa) - The German confectionery industry has come through the Corona year 2020 reasonably stable.
At around 3.9 million tons, the production of confectionery and snack items has, according to initial calculations, almost exactly reached the previous year's level, reported the industry association BDSI.
The value of the production was around 12.7 billion euros, half a percent below the previous year's result.
German manufacturers suffered losses primarily in terms of exports, which traditionally account for more than half of their total production.
Sales in foreign business fell by 3.3 percent to around 8.4 billion euros in 2020.
In total, an estimated 2.2 million tons were exported.
In addition to the corona pandemic and the uncertainty caused by Brexit, the US punitive tariffs on sweetened biscuits and wafer products had also bothered manufacturers, said BDSI chairman Bastian Fassin.
The prospects for the fourth largest branch of the food industry are not favorable, emphasized Fassin.
The significantly increased costs during the Corona crisis presented the more than 200 industrial manufacturers with enormous challenges.
65 percent of the companies assessed the business situation at the beginning of 2021 as worse than a year ago.
This is also reflected in the number of employees.
They fell for the first time in years, by around 800 to around 49,000.
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Bringing new products to market will be more difficult this year, said Fassin.
Trade fairs and customer visits were eliminated.
"In addition, consumers are reducing their shopping time in the grocery store and are more likely to choose a classic than an unknown, new product."
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210128-99-206746 / 2