Food prices

Potato and Vegetable Prices Set New Records in Russia

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Most vegetables have risen in price by 1,5 to 2 times compared to last year and have set new records for September, when, as a rule, the supply of vegetables exceeds demand on the market.

When in June prices for carrots and beets in Russia reached unprecedented levels, officials hoped for a new harvest to significantly reduce the prices. However, most of the potatoes and vegetables of the so-called “borsch set” to be stored have already been harvested, but prices are record high and continue to rise.

“Last week, carrot prices jumped by 22% at once, and the price for potatoes increased by 8%. The summer drought followed by rains when the produce had to be harvested, affected both volumes and quality of the grown produce. Market participants fear that there will not be enough high-quality potatoes and vegetables that can be stored until spring. The second factor influencing the rise in prices is the continued rains that delay the harvesting of potatoes, carrots, and beets. Accordingly, the supply is not as high as it could be at this time” explains Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

By the way, Belarus is experiencing similar problems, where prices for vegetables and potatoes are also breaking records, and the country has already begun to import potatoes from Ukraine and other countries.

However, market experts emphasize that bad weather is not the main factor affecting the decline in production and the rise in prices for potato and vegetables. The vegetable growing crisis in Russia has been going on since 2019 and it was caused by a long period of low prices and low profitability of production.

Potatoes are currently sold in Russia on average twice as expensive as last year.

Carrots have risen in prices slightly less than potatoes, but their prices have increased sharply last week. According to market participants, they will continue to grow. At the moment, wholesale carrots are 69% more expensive than at the same time last year.

The situation with onion prices is better – so far they are sold only 17% more expensive than last year. Moreover, they even have a slight tendency to decline. Also, onions in Russia are now cheaper than in other countries of the region. Therefore, the downward trend in onion prices may soon be replaced by growth.

Note that in the first seven months of 2021, Russia increased its imports of potatoes by 70%, carrots by 19%, but reduced onion imports by a third. The largest volumes of potatoes and onions were supplied to Russia by Egypt. Large volumes of onions were also imported from Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and China. The main part of carrots Russia imported from Israel, China, Egypt, and Belarus.

east-fruit.com

Prices Change of Fruits and Vegetables in Russia in 2018-2019

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The research of changes in prices for fruits and vegetables was carried out by analysts of the AGRO24 trading platform based on the prices of four online stores in Moscow: Utkonos, VkusVill, Perekrestok and Metro Cash & Carry.

The average retail prices for pears increased by 13%: it cost 165 rubles last year, and now it costs 188 rubles per kilogram. Bananas also scored in price: these farmers can now be bought for 76 rubles, and in June 2018 it cost 61 rubles. Oranges have decreased in price by 15–20%: the price value of last year was 113 rubles, now it is 93 rubles. Apples, like oranges, have fallen in price: they can now be purchased at a price of 121 rubles, and in 2018 – 140 rubles.

The price of cabbage has increased in the range from 40% to 60%. This year it can be purchased at an average price of 62 rubles, and in the past – 30 rubles each. This is the biggest price increase in our research.

The price of cucumbers increased by 16% compared to the same period last year. In June last year, the price was 118 rubles, now cucumbers cost 137 rubles per kilogram.

There is a strong jump in the price of potatoes this year compared with the past. The average retail price gained 40% per year. In 2018, potatoes could be bought at a price of 43 rubles, now it will cost 61 rubles.

Tomatoes also rose in price compared to June 2018: last year they cost 272 rubles, in this – 286 rubles. The price of tomatoes increased by 5–15%.

Onions, like cabbage, have greatly increased in price compared to the same period last year: prices have increased by 56%. Onions cost 39 rubles, now it costs 61 rubles. Prices for beets, compared with other vegetables, decreased by 15–20%. The main product of the “borsch set” in 2018 could be purchased at a price of 69 rubles, in 2019 – 45 rubles. The price for carrots also decreased by 10–20%. Last June, carrots cost 68 rubles, this year – 55 rubles per kilogram.

www.a-ipp.ru

Norway chilled salmon became more expensive

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$7.65 per 1 kilogram is the highest price in 10 years for this season, said the Association of produce and trade companies of fish market. In comparison with last year’s same period Norway chilled salmon price increased by 60%. Norway suppliers refer to tough weather conditions – due to them the price of transportation highly increased. As result the price to consumer grew up respectively.

The Association of fish market says that the same factor will also influence the price in future. “In other words, Norwegians will be able to sell fish at a price that does not have any market explanation. That means they can set any price”, – the Association says. Also the Association thinks that the situation worsened due to the lack of competition – now Norwegians are the only suppliers of salmon. Last year Polish companies could compete with them, but in the beginning of 2013 all big fish farming companies fell under Norway companies’ control.

According to Russian the Federal Fisheries Agency’s predictions, in 2013 the salmon market is 400,000 tons, 150,000 tons of which is Norway salmon. According to Norway Fish Committee, during period January-October 2013 the supply of fish and seafood from Norway to Russia decreased by 17.3% – till 224,700 tons. In monetary terms the import increased by 6.1% – till €630 million. Imports of Norway salmon decreased by 18.2% – till 87,000 tons while the average price of supplies increased by 37.8% – till €4.65 per kilogram. Imports of trout shrank by 14.1% – till 21,900 tons while costs increased by 37.8% – till €4.97 per kilogram.

Alexandr Savelyev, the representative of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency, interprets the situation as an “outrage”. “In Russia the price on farmed fish is 4-6 times higher than price on wild fish. It is the only country with a situation like that”, – he says. According to the information of the Federal Fisheries Agency, prime cost of Norway salmon is 50 Rubles per kilogram, Russian salmon – 80 Rubles per kilogram.

Timur Mitulov, the head of informational fishery agency, considers the matter is not only the weather: “Russian Far East yield of salmon decreased by 12-13%, meanwhile Japan and USA demand strengthened”.

Meanwhile representatives of X5 Retail Group and “Sedmoy Kontinent” say, that during the last 3 months they haven’t noticed any price increases on the part of suppliers who sell Norway chilled salmon.

www.retailer.ru

Potato prices are 1.5 times higher

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Retail prices for potato are higher by almost 1.5 times in contrast with last year.

The retail price of fresh potatoes in Moscow stores and vegetable markets broke all records of last year. In mid-November, residents of the capital and its suburbs are buying potatoes for approximately 27-35 rubles per kilogram. Minimum prices are suggested by retail chains “Auchan”, “Dixie” and “Pyatyorochka”, where you can find native potatoes 18-22 rubles per kilogram. The quality and vendibility of vegetables in grocery discounters cannot be called even satisfactory.

High prices of potatoes this season arise from several factors: the rainy weather in the harvest season, a poor harvest national average, and imposed ban on imports for phytosanitary reasons.

Every year in Russia, according to the Agriculture Ministry of Russian Federation, it is grown about 30 million tons of potatoes, 25 million tons of which belong to private households and are not intended for sale. The remaining 5-5.5 million tons are not enough for the commodity turnover and industrial processing. According to the Federal Customs Service of Russian Federation, the country still imports about 400,000 tons of potatoes a year. The main importers for Russia are the producers of the Netherlands and Germany.

 

www.retail.ru

Russian Food Inflation Rate Unchanged in May

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Food-price growth slowed to 14.1% in April from 15.3% in Q1, according to the Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat). Prices probably rose 0.5% in a month after increasing 0.4% in April. Consumer prices rose 4.6% this year through May 23.

Russia’s inflation rate was probably unchanged in May as the impact of last year’s drought on food prices faded. The annual inflation rate remained at 9.6% for a second month. The central bank expects inflation to slow significantly in the second half of 2011 and has a full-year target of between 6% and 7%.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Inflation in Russia depends more on food prices

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Economists believe that 2011 inflation in Russia will become even more dependent on food prices. After Rosstat (Russia’s State Statistics Office) studied Russian expenditure patterns, it revised the inflation calculation basis. The share of food in the expenditures structure has risen from 37,97% to 38,5%. The increase is basically due to a dramatic price growth on cereals, fruit and vegetables, which took place at the end of 2010.

Source: http://top.rbc.ru/economics/

Grocery chains grow as recovery sets in

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With a total turnover in 2010 of 7.1 trillion rubles ($239 billion), the retail food market is growing at 13 percent — more than twice the rate of the economy as a whole — and leading retailers are seeing growth of 30 to 40 percent. However, the main driver for food retail growth is the growth of prices.

The X5 Retail Group, the largest food retailer, plans to open 540 new stores all over the country. Magnit, the supermarket chain with the greatest geographic coverage, is to open 800 convenience stores and 55 hypermarkets. Discount chain Dixy hopes to open 150 convenience stores in Moscow and the regions, and intends to attract customers with a new logo, more efficient operations, sales and discount cards.

This expansion will build on last year’s boom, in which X5 added 1097 new stores, including 660 stores via its acquisition of competitor Kopeika. Magnit opened 827 stores, compared with 646 openings in 2009. Dixy had 646 stores open in the end of 2010, up from 623 open the previous year. With last week’s purchase of rival Victoria Group supermarket chain, Dixy will own 901 stores. Sedmoi Kontinent had 146 stores at the end of the year mostly in and around Moscow, compared with 139 a year earlier.

X5’s net revenue for 2010 was 341.6 billion rubles ($11.2 billion). Magnit earned 7.1 billion rubles ($241 million) for the same period. But the market is highly fragmented, with none of the major players having more than 4 percent share, according to UralSib.

Source: www.themoscowtimes.com