Emily Balsamo, Moscow Office, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board

The rise of Russia’s middle class has led to significantly more demand for higher quality, nutritious, and convenient food. Russians are becoming increasingly time-poor, and are thus leaning towards packaged snacks and prepared meals in lieu of traditional, labor-intensive Russian cooking. The Russian trend in busier lifestyles coincides with the interest in health in wellness, resulting in the success of products that combine convenience and health.

The market for packaged food in Russia is one of the fastest growing in the world- valued at $100 billion according to some estimates. Nearly all categories of packaged food saw steady growth in 2011. In the past few years, selection and availability has been steadily improving, particularly in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 2011 alone, sales in the market as a whole increased by 16%.

Most packaged food importers into Russia have been focusing on the Moscow region where global brands and imported products have a higher share of sales than they do nationally. Many analysts use Moscow as a barometer for the rest of the country. Because of Muscovites’ Westward outlook and Moscow’s faster pace of life, higher incomes, and increasing variety of products available in stores, the city, which holds only 1% of Russia’s population, accounted for 14% of packaged food sales in 2011, and saw stronger growth than Russia according to Euromonitor.

In 2011, Russian packaged food manufacturers reacted quickly to the healthy eating trend and launched a number of products targeting that niche. Light (or low-fat) products appeared in many categories, including low-fat yogurt, sauces, light savory snacks and frozen yogurt. In sweet and savoury snacks, the consumption of naturally healthy nuts and fruit snacks grew 8% and 24% respectively in value terms during 2011. Fruit bars showed the strongest growth rate at 24%.