The grocery retailer Lenta has entered the Moscow region. The first of the company’s stores in the capital opened on a 3,000 m2 site in 1stOstankinskaya Street the end of April 2013. The store is also the first establishment in the new supermarket format. In the past Lenta operated hypermarkets only.
Another Lenta store in the city hypermarket format opened in the Makcity shopping centre in Balashikha (in the Moscow Province) the end of May 2013. This outlet takes up 4,500 m2. Overall, in the next 3-4 years the retailer intends to launch about 10 stores in the region. In April 2013 Lenta had 57 active hypermarkets in 32 Russian cities.
Russian food market research
Amount of apples exported from China to Russia decreased
According to Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), from July to April 2012/13 China shipped to the Russian market 104 thousand tons of apples, which is 7% lower than during the same period the season before.
It should be also noted that the import of apples to Russia from China for 10 months of the season was the lowest for this period.
However, despite the decline in exports of apples to Russia, China managed to be third biggest supplier to Russia third season in a row. 6 seasons ago, China was the leading supplier of fruit on the Russian market.
Source: www.freshmarket.ru
Russian import of fruit and vegetables: 8 billion dollar market
Russia is an important sales market for fresh fruit and vegetables. Every year the Russian market is worth an import value of almost 8 billion dollars. The volume is around 8 million tonnes. Last year the import was a little lower than that of the record year 2011. This decrease can be attributed to the smaller import of vegetables, mainly that of onions. In reality, the import of fresh vegetables has been stagnating since 2008, whereas the import of fresh fruit grew until 2011 and stabilised last year (see tables 1 and 3 to 6).
The Russian market is very important for Holland. However, according to KCB figures the sales of Dutch products decreased dramatically last year. If the KCB registration is correct, the decrease of Dutch product from 192,000 to 127,000 tonnes is completely due to the decrease in the export of onions (table 9). Besides Dutch product there is also a considerable amount of foreign product transported to Russia through Holland. Based on the statistics it is difficult to get a good image of the size of the total trade between Holland and Russia.
As the trade mainly goes through Lithuania, the import of fruit and vegetables (incl. re-export) from Holland in Lithuania gives the best image of the amounts concerned. According to Eurostat figures it was 370,000 tonnes in 2012: 198,000 tonnes of vegetables and 172,000 tonnes of fruit (table 15). Almost all of this will have ended up on the Russian market (Lithuania only has 3.5 million inhabitants and Russia has over 140 million).
Russian production stable
Russia itself produces huge amounts of vegetables: especially cabbage, tomatoes, onions and carrots. The fruit production is considerably smaller and watermelons and apples are the two most important products. The production has been reasonably stable for the past few years (table 2).
For the total import, fruit is more important than vegetables. Over the past few years the fruit import has shown a steady rise to around 6 million tonnes in recent years. The import of vegetables was over 2 million in 2011, but decreased last year.
Fruit: Import mainly bananas and apples
In terms of fruit, apples and bananas are the leading import products. In 2011 the import of bananas reached a peak for the time being. In 2012 less bananas were imported. The import of apples, on the other hand, was biggest in 2012 and knocked bananas off the top spot. Soft citrus, oranges, pears, grapes, peaches/nectarines and lemons are the products which form the middle. Out of these products, only the import of peaches peaked in 2012 (tables 3 and 4 and 18 through 23).
Bananas come almost exclusively from Ecuador. For apples there was a huge increase in the import from Poland in 2012. The import from Moldavia and China and a number of other countries greatly decreased. Holland is a small player in the Russian apple market and in 2012 there was also a decrease. According to the KCB the export of Dutch apples fell from 11,400 tonnes in 2011 to 7,850 tonnes in 2012. According to the Russian import statistics 8,400 tonnes of apples were imported from Holland. Lithuania’s import statistics add up to an import from Holland of 13,700 tonnes. Pears are the main product imported from Holland to Russia. The KCB adds up to and export of 53,000 tonnes of Dutch pears in 2012.
For Holland, however, the Russian vegetable market is more important than the fruit market. Last year the export of Dutch vegetables dropped greatly, but this was due to the strong decline in the export of Dutch onions to Russia. In 2011 there was 86,000 tonnes and in 2012 only 23,000 tonnes. The export of other Dutch vegetable products to Russia has shown a very slight downward trend in recent years. Tomato is the largest of the rest and came near 20,000 tonnes for the first time. Carrots, white cabbage and peppers are, at a distance, the other vegetable products going to Russia. The export of cabbage decreased greatly in 2012 (table 9).
Russia’s big vegetable supplier is, however, Turkey, but the package that this country supplies, is very limited. Three quarters of it is tomatoes (table 42). China is second on the list. Last year the import from that country did suffer a big drop. Important products that China supplies are: tomatoes, onions (a lot less in 2012 than in previous years), carrots and garlic. Israel and Poland are also still ahead of Holland as suppliers. Israel is big in carrots and peppers and Poland is big in cabbage and mushrooms. (tables 42 to 46).
Source: www.freshplaza.com
Smallest pear import in four years
Russia imported 260,000 tonnes of pears in total between July 2012 and the end of March 2013. This is the smallest import amount in the last four years. According to the Russian Bureau for Statistics this means that the import amount has gone down by 14% compared to last season. Only in the season 2008/09 was the import amount even lower at 230,000 tonnes. The main pear suppliers for the Russian market were Holland, Belgium and Argentina.
Source: www.freshplaza.com
Russian retail up 4% year on year in Q1 2013
Retail sales revenues in Russia grew by 3.9% year on year in real terms and were valued at RUB 5.23tr ($164.78bn) in Q1 2013, according to the Russian Federal Statistic Service (Rosstat). This was against a 7.9% y-o-y increase in Q1 2012.
In addition, a 4.4% real yearly increase was registered in March 2013 alone, against 4.2% in January this year. Retail companies and sole traders account for 90.5% of retail trade in Russia in March 2013, with 9.5% shared by retail markets and fairs against 89.5% and 10.5% respectively in March 2012.
What is more, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development has dropped the forecast growth rate for retail from 5.6% to 4.3% in 2013. In 2012 retail sales revenues grew by 5.9% in real terms.
Source: www.russiaretail.com
Russia offers opportunities to suppliers from the fruit and vegetable sector
Russia import more and more fruit and vegetables all the time, while their own production
decreases. In 2012, the country became the most important sales destination for Spanish fruit and vegetables, according to a report from Business Boost International.
Fruit and vegetable imports by Russia in 2012 were compared to the previous year. The tomato and cucumber import decreased slightly, but the import of peppers was 38% higher and the import of potatoes even increased almost threefold. Also, imports of lettuce, aubergine peach and grapes increased. The apple import – in which area Russia worldwide is in third place – decreased by 18 percent.
It appears from the report that in the area of fruit imports, especially Ecuador (bananas), Poland (apples), Turkey (citrus, grapes and top fruit), China (apples, citrus and top fruit), Argentina (apples, pears and citrus), Chile (grapes) that these products are very important for the country. The total consumption of fruit in the country increases for a number of reasons, one of them being the developing retail sector.
Source: www.freshplaza.com
Apple prices down
Apple prices on the Russian market have decreased in the first half of the 2012/13 season, as a result of the country’s accession to the WTO and a record-high domestic production. By the end of December 2012, the average wholesale prices in Moscow were 20% lower (year-on-year). In other regions, prices dropped noticeably as well. In the Voronezh region, for example, prices fell by a third. Market participants expect an increase in apple prices however, thanks to higher demand in the past two weeks.
Russia imported approximately 10,200 tons of Chinese pears from July to November 2012, a number almost 10% higher than last year. Experts from Fruit-Inform link an increase in Chinese exports to Russia to a higher pear production in China this season. The highest import volumes were recorded in November (2,800 tons) and the lowest in July (approximately 1,200 tons). China’s share in total Russian pear imports ranged between 5-7% over the past three seasons. Currently, China is the sixth largest exporter of pears into the Russian Federation. Only Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Argentina export more.
Source: www.freshplaza.com
Russia to develop organic sertification standards
In the past few years, city-dwelling Russians have developed a strong interest in healthier and organic food, according to Emily Balsamo from the Moscow Office of Bord Bia – Irish Food Board. However, presently there is no certification for organic products in Russia. Many products carry the labels “organic” or “bio” without certification.
In 2012, several producers of such products wrote an open letter to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture demanding a certification process.
The Ministry of Agriculture responded with a draft law, “On the production of organic agricultural products and amendments to legislative acts of the Russian Federation,” dated 26 November 2012.
The draft law designates that Russian organic standards will be consistent with EU Organic regulations and the National Organic Program in the United States. However, there is no regulatory body in Russia which is prepared to certify organic products at this time.
Analysts believe that the responsibility of certification will be delegated to the Russian Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, or that a new non-governmental regulatory authority will be founded. The draft law designates that in order for a product to be labeled “organic” or “bio,” the certification process will need to be passed. Russian Government Agricultural experts are currently studying American, European and Japanese certification techniques.
Harmonisation with international and national standards is one of the main goals in producing organic and bio food legislation. The impetus for this move is widely considered to be Russia’s recent accession to the WTO.
Russia producers are interested in taking advantage of the facilitated trade environment and have plans to export Russian-made organic products to the EU.
However, certification will also allow for facilitated import of organic and bio products to Russia from the EU, as the draft legislation mandates that any product labeled organic under EU certification will maintain certification in Russia.
The law is expected to come into full effect in 2015
Source: www.thefishsite.com
Metro Cash & Carry earns €4.12bn in Russia in 2012
Metro Cash & Carry, a German grocery retailer (and part of the Metro Group), reported sales in Russia of €4.12bn in fiscal 2012, against €3.42bn in 2011 (a 20.4% y-o-y increase).
During the last year the company opened six hypermarkets in the country, and by the end of 2012 Metro Cash & Carry operated 68 outlets.
What is more, another grocery brand in the group, Real, increased its sales in Russia from €722m in 2011 to €859m last year (19% y-o-y growth). However, Real chain is to be acquired by the French Auchan, and the deal is to be completed this year.
Source: www.russiaretail.com
Pakistan: Export focus should be on Russia
Chief Executive Officer of Harvest Tradings, Ahmad Jawad has said that Russia can be the biggest fruit market for Pakistani exporters.
Jawad said that the size of the Russian fruit market is around $5.77 billion of which imports account for 80 percent. However, this huge market has remained unexplored although there is a big potential for the export of Pakistan’s horticulture products, especially for fruits.
Unfortunately Pakistani exporters of horticulture products are finding it difficult to penetrate the Russian market due to the unavailability of banking channels, Jawad observed.
He said Pakistan and Russia might jointly look into the possibilities of organizing trade delegations and exhibitions in each other’s countries as part of a new marketing strategy.
Jawad emphasised that the government should draw a workable strategy to increase exports from the fresh produce industry.
“Our focus should be on Russian and CIS markets with regard to fruits and vegetables which are ready to absorb as much as we could export,” he said.
Source: www.freshplaza.com