Ricola: new factory opening postponed, US duties weighed
Keystone-SDA
Ricola, a manufacturer of candies and balsamic herbal teas heavily dependent on exports, has postponed the planned opening of a new production plant in the former Hero factory in Lenzburg, canton Aargau.
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The family-owned company justifies the decision by the high US duties on Swiss products.
“We are slowing down the pace a bit,” CEO Thomas Meier said in an interview with Swiss public television SRF television. The company announced last year it was creating two production lines in Lenzburg, which would lead to 100 new jobs. This has now been put on hold.
It is awaiting developments on US tariffs and in the meantime the company is holding back on larger investments, Meier explained. Foreign trade accounts for 90% of total turnover and 40% of revenues are realised in the US.
Substituting Swiss herbs in candies is not an issue, he added. The sweets produced in Switzerland are already packaged in the US, which accounts for 40% of the added value. Therefore the products are not fully impacted by customs duties.
Ricola will increase its prices in the US by 10% from December 1. The turnover of the company founded in 1930, which relies heavily on the asserted Swiss quality of its products in its advertising and marketing, amounts to around CHF400 million ($507 million).
Adapted from Italian by DeepL/jdp
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