Kägi wafers under pressure: strong franc and US tariffs weigh on exports

Exports generate almost half the revenue of Kägi Söhne, the company from Lichtensteig, in the canton of St Gallen, known for a century for its chocolate wafers. According to chief executive Cédric El-Idrissi, exports are precisely the biggest problem the firm has faced over the past eighteen months.

The difficulties add up. The strong franc penalises prices abroad, Swiss labour costs more than that of international competitors, and raw materials, especially cocoa and milk, have become more expensive. Demand has also collapsed in key markets such as China, which El-Idrissi says has become increasingly closed in on itself. On top of this come American tariffs: «A partire da febbraio 2026, le nostre esportazioni verso gli Stati Uniti sono soggette a un'aliquota forfettaria del 10%» (since February 2026, our exports to the United States have been subject to a flat rate of 10%), the executive explains. Previously, the wafers entered the United States duty-free.

A further burden stems from the Swissness rules. To print the Swiss cross on its packaging, Kägi must use 100% domestic raw materials whenever they are available on the home market, such as milk, butter, cereals and sugar. Agricultural policy heavily subsidises the sector, and these ingredients cost far more than abroad. German makers of competing confectionery, such as Knoppers, just across Lake Constance, benefit from significantly lower raw material costs.

The response: Swiss identity and new products

The company has chosen to build on its Swiss identity, a premium positioning and the light texture of its wafers. To reach younger consumers, it launched a protein wafer with no added sugar, the "Kägi × Chiefs", together with the Swiss company Chiefs; it has been well received and generated many repeat purchases.

On pricing, the family pack has been reduced in size to stay below the psychological threshold of four francs, while the 50-gram Kägi fret, the best-selling product, has kept its usual format. Unlike brands such as Rivella and Ovomaltine, the company does without permanent influencer ambassadors: as a small and medium-sized enterprise it has a limited advertising budget and focuses on billboards and social media.

Kägi remained family-run until 1996. Today it belongs to the Swiss investment company Helix Innovations, controlled by the American conglomerate Altria. El-Idrissi insists that in its day-to-day business the firm remains an independent SME with short decision-making processes, while the group gives it access to greater purchasing power. The original recipe is known to only a few people, but the real strength, the CEO says, lies in decades of experience in production processes and quality control.

El-Idrissi, born in 1977 to a Moroccan father and a Swiss mother, has a past as an athlete: a 400-metre hurdles specialist, he competed at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2003 world championships in Paris. Before joining Kägi in August 2024, he worked at PepsiCo, Mondelez and Coca-Cola HBC. He advises elite athletes to prepare their professional careers while still competing, as he did by studying and working at the same time.