German food industry reports higher turnover in 2019

Source: Xinhua | 2020-01-16

The turnover of Germany's food industry edged up by 2.2 percent year-on-year in 2019 to 183.6 billion euros (204.7 billion U.S. dollars), according to data released on Wednesday by the Federation of German Food and Drink Industries (BVE).

"Our industry looks back with satisfaction on the past year," said BVE Managing Director Christoph Minhoff.

In the domestic market where most revenues were generated, turnover edged up by 1.8 percent to 122.2 billion euros, according to the BVE. International turnover increased by 3.2 percent to 61.4 billion euros in 2019.

Demand for quality food was particularly high and the willingness among German consumers to pay more for sustainable products was unbroken. "Conscious consumption is increasingly leaving the niche and becoming the mainstream," BVE noted.

With more than 600,000 employees in 6,000 companies, the food industry is the fourth largest industrial sector in Germany. Ninety percent of companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to the BVE.