Extending the Russian food ban is not such a problem for local retailers, since for less than a year they was able to find a replacement for most banned products, according to a survey conducted by RIA Novosti.
In August 2014, Russia restricted imports of food products from the EU, USA, Canada, Norway and Australia. Meat products, fish, vegetables, fruits, dairy products were banned. In late June, the Russian government extended the ban until August 5, 2016, excluding from the list of oysters and mussels fry and banning import of all cheeses, tightening the rules for import of lactose-free dairy products.
General opinion of the retailers is that ban extension will not influence prices as the new network of suppliers has already built. Although other factors such as seasonality, currency volatility, inflation, regulatory changes may affect prices.
It can be noted that there is a larger assortment range of domestic products on the shelves. Maria Kurnosova, Director of External Communications of “Auchan” noted that the share of imported products is about 3%. In “Dixie”retail chain the share of domestic production is about 90%. The specific demand for imported goods remains, but this applies only to certain groups of products, such as alcohol or fruit.