Swiss to Keep Emergency Coffee Stockpile, Tages-Anzeiger Reports

(Bloomberg) --

After a public outcry, Switzerland has decided that keeping a three-month emergency coffee supply is an essential safeguard, Tages-Anzeiger reported.

The government had considered abandoning a requirement to keep some 15,000 tons of raw coffee, saying in April that it’s not essential due to its low caloric value. The coffee industry and consumers disagreed. A lobby group that includes coffee traders, roasters and cafes painted scenarios like a war in the Middle East or a coffee plant epidemic that could halt trading. A poll on Twitter by supermarket chain Migros, which owns coffee subsidiary Delica, showed two-thirds of the respondents said they could hardly imagine a life without it.

“No definite decisions have yet been made,” said Irene Harnischberg, a spokeswoman at the economy ministry, adding the evaluation is still ongoing with a decision likely in the first half of next year.

Switzerland’s biggest coffee companies, including Nespresso producer Nestle SA and Delica, are required to stock bags of beans. It’s part of the measures introduced after World War I, when the government sought to ensure the population would have access to vital goods like sugar, rice, wheat and cooking oil even during times of crises.

The outrage has seemingly led Economy Minister Guy Parmelin to determine that the attempt to remove coffee from that list is not worth the hassle.

To contact the reporter on this story: Corinne Gretler in Zurich at cgretler1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Jan Dahinten, Thomas Mulier

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