Swiss origin label requirements eased amid poor sugar beet harvest

Only 40% of the sugar in a product must now come from Switzerland to qualify for the Swiss designation of origin after a poor year for sugar beet, as reported by the Swiss agricultural information service on Thursday. In principle, 80% of the raw materials in a product with the Swiss designation of origin must come from Switzerland, as stipulated by the so-called ‘Swissness rule’. However, this changes if there are insufficient raw materials available. If the country’s level of self-sufficiency is below 50%, the proportion of Swiss ingredients can also be half as high. According to the agricultural information service, this is now the case for sugar. ‘A year to forget’ for growers Both the weather and a pest infestation resulted in a low sugar beet harvest in 2023. “Last year was a year to forget. It couldn't have been worse,” Martin Flury, president of the Schweizerischen Verbandes der Zuckerrübenpflanzer, the Swiss Association of Sugar Beet Growers, was quoted as saying by the ...