presents the quarterly journal of the Interprofession du Gruyère No 41 - May 2017 l’oiseauSpecial edition Annual report 2016 of the Interprofession du Gruyère CONTENTS GRAPHICS 03 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 04 REPARTITION OF THE GRUYÈRE AOP CONSUMPTION DURING 2016 04 GENERAL SITUATION 05 MONTHLY SALES 2016 06 QUANTITY MANAGEMENT 06 TOTAL PRODUCTION 2000-2016 07 MARKET SITUATION 07 COMPARISON OF SALES 08 THE AOP FILE AND THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION 10 COMPARISON OF QUALITY BY CIVIL YEAR 09 THE QUALITY OF GRUYÈRE AOP 14 COMPARISON OF PRODUCTION 11 NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL (CASEIN MARKINGS) HONOURS FOR LE GRUYÈRE AOP 15 SALES 2015-2016 (TONS) 14 MARKETING 16 COMPARISON OF GRUYÈRE AOP 18 OUR WORLDWIDE ADVERTISEMENTS YEARLY EXPORTS 20 2016 EVENTS 17 COMPARISON OF GRUYÈRE AOP EXPORTS FROM JANUARY TO MARCH 22 GOVERNING BODIES WITHIN THE INTERPROFESSION DU GRUYÈRE 22 COMPARISON OF STOCK EVOLUTION (END OF MARCH 2017) 25 COMMITTEE OF THE INTERPROFES- SION DU GRUYÈRE 24 COMPARISON OF ALPAGE PRODUCTION (CASEIN MARKINGS) 26 OUTLOOK FOR 2017 26 RECAPITULATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE TOTAL PRODUCTION POTENTIAL FOR GRUYÈRE AOP PER CHEESE DAIRY AND PER CANTON FOR 2017 www.gruyere.com Impressum Publisher : Interprofession du Gruyère Editorial board : Translation : Graphic design : Case postale 12, CH - 1663 Pringy Interprofession du Gruyère Ms Sarah Warburton Effet-i-media [email protected] [email protected] www.gruyere.com Message from the President Twentieth anniversary of the Interprofession to find constructive the Interprofession du solutions in a democratic way. Gruyère AOP 1999 On 1st May, the system of pro- It’s always good to know where we tection and price guarantees offered come from and where we are so that by the Swiss Confederation collapsed. we can plan for the future. For a decision to be made, it is imper- 2001 Gruyère is granted the AOC ative that a majority of each groupe If we are being honest, the pioneers certification. agrees. and founders of Gruyère had no way of No group may develop to the detri- knowing how to ensure a prosperous 2006 The cheese market between ment of the others. future. Emotion, passion and a love Switzerland and Europe is completely for the product were their motivation opened. I would like to thanks the pioneers to create something together. amongst milk producers, cheesemak- 2009 The end of milk quotas in ers and refiners who worked closely 30 years ago, a handful of people had Switzerland. with the Federal Office for Agriculture the foresight to see that a change was and had the clear vision, courage and in sight for the dairy and cheese econ- 2 011 The mutual recognition of AOC conviction to create this organisation. omy in Switzerland. and AOP certification between You are the foundations upon which Switzerland and Europe. our current success has been built. 1981 The founding of the Confrérie du Gruyère. 2012 Le Gruyère AOP Our commitments Today it boasts 1600 faithful mem- Appellation Contrôlée (controlled) bers. At their induction, each member becomes Appellation Protégée We will not produce more than the swore, one hand on a Gruyère wheel, (Protected Designation of Origin) national and international market to love, honour and defend it requires. worldwide. 2014 The brand ‘LE GRUYERE AOP SWITZERLAND’ and the name We will respect, without compromise, 1992 The Gruyère charter is signed. GRUYERE are registered in The United the decisions and regulations of the Milk producers, cheesemakers and States of America, South Africa, Interprofession du Gruyère. refiners agree to respect certain pro- Jamaica, South America and Russia. duction procedures and quality criteria. Le Gruyère AOP is produced in an ar- It is not only our product that is tisanal way. 1997 The Federal regulations which unique, the Interprofession du legislate appellations of origin come Gruyère is too! We guarantee Gruyère AOP’s quality into force. and complete traceability. The Interprofession du Gruyère is dem- 1997 The foundation of the ocratically organised. We want to ensure an adequate rev- Interprofession du Gruyère. enue and the equitable division of The highest decision-making body added value between milk producers, The founders had the good sense to is the Interprofession’s Assembly of cheesemakers and refiners. elect Pierre Dubois as their President. Delegates. He was neither a milk producer nor a Our members are independent cheesemaker, refiner or entrepreneur, 20 milk producers, 20 cheesemakers entrepreneurs. but rather a socialist experienced in and 9 refiners represent: the Swiss democratic process. As an 2200 milk producers Le Gruyère AOP Switzerland brand ex-Councillor of State for the canton 165 dairies belongs to us! of Neuchâtel, he knew how to move 54 alpine pastures forward while negotiating contradic- 9 refiners ‘cheese traders/ Long live le Gruyère AOP. tory opinions, convictions and special exporters’ interests. With his neutral outsider’s Oswald Kessler vision and his experience, he suc- We make decisions together. President of the cessfully motivated the members of No-one person is in charge. Interprofession 3 General situation 2016 has not exactly been a rest- formance by the markets in autumn tioned above, the Interprofession ful one for the Interprofession. meant their targets were reached. du Gruyère has also invested in Following the National Bank’s At the end of 2016, stocks had be- marketing both nationally and inter- unpegging of the Swiss franc come more balanced, having a nationally, near and far, such as in the against the euro in January fairly good spread of affinages. This Northern European countries, the 2015, markets deteriorated pro- meant that a production percentage United States and even Asia. One gressively, putting a strain on of 93% could be set for the first 3 of the many high points of these Gruyère AOP stocks. 2015 saw months of 2017 with the possibili- efforts was when the Confrérie du a global restriction on produc- ty of increasing this to 98% for the Gruyère travelled to New York in June tion of 3.5% which was lowered rest of the year. It seems, therefore, as part of the Fancy Food Show. This to 3% for the first 3 months of that after two highly turbulent years, journey permitted the induction of 2016 but unfortunately this then the prospect of production at 100% important partners in the American became 10% due to the high is no longer utopian. In addition to market, a market which represents volumes cellared and above the supplementary measures men- Tableau10% 1 of Gruyère AOP sales. It was all, an imbalance with regards to the high quantities of older Suisse Réserve Fonte Union USA Autres Repartition of the Gruyèrelocale (RL) AOP consumptionEuropéenne during goods being released. At the Est 14899 952 1180 7551 3043 1512 same time, the Interprofession 2016 (tons) du Gruyère spent a significant amount of money on support- Others ing sales, either by increasing 1’512 t. USA the rate of promotions nation- 3’043 t. ally or carrying out additional promotional activity on inter- national markets. In addition to funding these exceptional measures, the Interprofession made occasional payouts to the Switzerland industrial market and covered 14’899 t. EU the costs involved in transform- 7’551 t. ing cheese which could not be given the AOP label. All these different projects had the same central aim: to promote sales of the oldest goods from autumn 2015 until spring 2016. Processed cheese Local Nevertheless, these steps should 1’180 t. Reserve Total 29’136 t. be viewed as exceptional. Good per- (LR) 952 t. 4 1 an indescribable honour to be able to Interprofession du Gruyère: quality, cheese. These different points will be unite our vendors in swearing loyalty quantities, profitability, value for cli- looked at further over 2017 in order to this noble cheese under the flags ents, market share, brand value, and they can be acted upon as soon as of both Gruyère and the Confrérie. the viability of the IPG. It was com- possible. Some aspects of this will pleted last autumn and delivered to be expanded upon in individual chap- Problems regarding the balanc- the Board of Directors. After a first ters: quality, quantities, marketing ing of production with sales of analysis, the report was passed on and legal aspects. Gruyère AOP have been tack- to the Committee to enable improve- led a great many times by the ments to the good functioning of the Despite these ups and downs in- Interprofession, leading them to Interprofession du Gruyère and the herent to an industry which has janviercommissionfévrier amars study avrilby a personmai juin associationjuillet asaoût a whole.septembre The aimoctobre is tonovembre humandécembre beings at its centre, it should Suisse 1272 1414 1439 1208 1423 1228 1028 1746 1529 1682 1622 1590 Exportation external821 to917 the organisation1082 782 who851 guarantee852 751 everyone987 the means1255 to1290 re- 1344be noticed1162 that investments in sev- has a large amount of experience gain some growth and in particular, eral dairies have continued, and in this area. This analysis focuses to ensure the healthy distribution of renovations or new constructions on the fundamental concerns of the any added value generated by this celebrated. These events show how much faith in this noble product exists. This encourages all those in- Monthly sales 2016 (tons) volved to continue their hard work to make Gruyère AOP known on dif- 3’500 t. ferent markets and bring pleasure to 20xx 20xx consumers. In this spirit, the victory 3’000 t. of the Amburnex Gruyère d’Alpage at the Swiss Cheese Awards is a 2’500 t. welcome ray of light in a particularly turbulent year. 2’000 t. Exportation Gruyère d’Alpage AOP will be in the spotlight again in 2017 as the 1’500 t.