Swiss meat company Bell Group has booked a drop in sales for 2014 but insisted the performance of “higher added value” products was “encouraging”.

Sales declined 0.9% year-on-year during 2014, dropping to CHF2.6bn (US$2.56bn). Excluding currency exchange, total value sales fell 0.5%. An increased focus on higher value products meant that Bell’s volumes decline was steeper, falling 1.1% to 215.6m kgs.

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In Switzerland, the group said value-added sales saw “substantial growth” in 2014, driven by seafood, poultry and charcuterie. Sales volumes were “down slightly”. Bell’s revenue in Germany fell 2.8% due to currency exchange and lower pork prices. International sales – which take in sales made in France, the Benelux, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic – were down 8.4% due to FX and “considerably lower prices for pork in Europe”. The unprofitable Slovakian business has been discontinued, Bell noted.

The company will report full-year results on 19 February.

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