On April 10, Switzerland announced that it would end its decades-old emergency reserve of coffee beans, citing the fact that coffee is not a necessity for human survival.
Switzerland, which remained neutral during World War I and World War II, also retained contingency reserves after the war, preparing food, medicine and fuel for short-term needs for possible wars, natural disasters and epidemics, including 15,300 tons of packaged green coffee beans.
The Swiss Federal Council noted in its report that the reserves could also meet the drinking requirements for 3 months based on the average annual coffee consumption of the country. In addition, as of the end of 2017, the country's coffee and food industry related enterprises still have 16,800 tons of bulk green coffee beans and roasted coffee beans, which can also meet the needs of 3 months. The Swiss can no longer have to eat coffee beans for half a year.
Under Swiss law, 15 Swiss coffee production, roasting and retail companies, including Nestlé, are required to stock up on coffee beans. However, the Swiss Federal Office of the National Economic Supply now believes that coffee is not necessary for human survival, because coffee itself contains almost no calories, so from a physiological point of view, it does not maintain nutrition.
Reuters quoted data from the International Coffee Organization as pointing out that the Swiss do love to drink coffee. Every year, Switzerland's 8.5 million people consume 9 kg of green coffee beans each, up from 3.3 kg and 4.5 kg in the UK and the US. In addition, in the ranking of the Swiss coffee industry association Cafetier Suisse last November, the Swiss drank 1110 cups of coffee a year, second only to the Norwegians with 1315 cups and the Germans with 1246 cups, with an average of at least 3 cups a day.
This time, Switzerland plans to stop the emergency reserve of coffee beans by the end of 2022, when the relevant companies can freely dispose of the coffee beans in their inventory according to their needs. The final decision will be finalized in November this year.
However, not all companies welcome "loosening". Swiss food reserve agency WorrySse told the federal office last year that 12 of the 15 companies involved want to continue to stockpile coffee beans because the current reserve plan supports the entire supply chain. Some companies have also suggested that the health benefits of coffee, such as the antioxidants and vitamins it contains, should not be overlooked.
Reuters reported that ReserveSuisse noted in the letter that the concerns amply illustrate that the practice of judging whether it should be used only on calories as a necessity is not fair to coffee. At present, Switzerland provides a subsidy of 3.75 Swiss francs for every 100 kilograms of imported coffee beans used for emergency reserves, with a total of 2.7 million Swiss francs (about 2.7 million US dollars) of subsidies for related enterprises every year.