Russia aims to become more self-sufficient in fruit and veg supply

With the citrus season underway, demand in Russia increases, especially now in the path towards the New Year. According to Vadim, head of the packaging department of Prodgamma, a holding company with a network of offices in a variety of regions and cities, including Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Moscow and Saint Petersburg. “We expected mostly Moroccan, Turkish, Egyptian and Chinese citrus fruits, but now, with Turkey’s problems, the Chinese part could grow." He explains that this applies mostly to mandarins, but that China is also able to offer a lot of great quality oranges. And the proportion of Chinese consumption of oranges grows every year.
Also As Pakistan will try to significantly expand its presence in the segment.

"In addition to that, there are two trends - in the first place we've been watching the growing efforts of the countries of Central Asia and Transcaucasia, particularly Azerbaijan, to raise the level traditionally their products are to European standards, and secondly producers in these regions make efforts to grow more complex sometimes risky, as a consequence, and profitable types of fruit, such as lemons, kiwi fruit or acca sellowiana from Uzbekistan."

But the problem will not only affect citrus, since Turkey was supplying a wide range of products to the Russian market, including grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers and many, many others. While this situation may mean a threat of shortages, Vadim states that Prodgamma like a typical Russian company which is very flexible and used to operating in changing situations, so hopefully it won’t be too big a problem.

While he explains that fruit and vegetable prices in Russia are currently growing, consumers are also turning towards products of domestic production and from Mid-Asia. “That is why the economic wars between Russia and the EU and Turkey won’t have a good impact for the last ones, because they are sellers, not buyers, and we are able to adapt. In this highly competitive market In any case, the buyer is always in a better position"

It is difficult to give prospects on what to expect for the upcoming year, as we can see the situation can change very rapidly, but given the circumstances, Mr Vadim hopes that “this will lead to the growth of the Russian production and to a greater diversification of Russian imports, making the country more independent when it comes to fruit and vegetable supply.”

For more information:

Vadim Khamidullin
Prodgamma (Russia)
Mob.: 007-913-915-51-38
Email: stikss@inbox.ru