The quality of fruits and vegetables in Russian stores has allegedly deteriorated after the introduction of the product embargo on Turkey, according to a study of the investment bank Morgan Stanley, which has studied the impact of a possible lifting of the sanctions against Turkey.
“We visited some federal and regional chains to look at the quality of the fruit and vegetables on offer. While the stores we visited may not be a representative sample, our experience revealed a decline in the quality of fresh fruits and vegetables,” says the report.
The Morgan Stanley study draws attention to the fact that, after the imposition of the embargo on some Turkish fruit and vegetables, Russian retail chains have switched to imports of fruit and vegetables from countries of North Africa and the Middle East. This, according to investment bank analysts, led to a loss of quality and a rise in the price of these products.
Analysts say that the blame is unlikely of retailers. “Russia had to switch to suppliers of North Africa and the Middle East, such as Egypt, Morocco, Israel or Algeria, to replace products which are usually imported from Turkey (tomatoes, peppers, peaches, citrus, etc.). This suggests long delivery distances, which often leads to lower quality, and sometimes to, higher prices,” said Morgan Stanley.
“If Russia does not lift the ban on the import of fruits and vegetables from Turkey and continues importing them from North Africa and the Middle East, the quality may deteriorate further and prices could become even higher,” concluded the study.
Morgan Stanley also predicted that the lifting of the embargo on Turkish products would not strongly affect the level of inflation in Russia. Earlier, a similar forecast was made by the Economic Development Ministry.
Lastly, Morgan Stanley analysts noted that given the significant devaluation of the rouble, which has led to higher prices for imported goods, Russian consumers have started buying less fresh vegetables and fruits, especially imported. In the annual survey which Morgan Stanley conducted in February 2016, 30% of respondents admitted that they were less likely to make purchases in supermarkets; a third of respondents admitted they were more likely to buy the agricultural products in the markets, while more than 20% have started to grow their own vegetables and fruit and about 10% share products with friends and family.