Healthy lifestyle trends
from dairy products to vegetable alternatives: coconut, almond,
and oatmeal juice. In most cases, Russians switch to milk alternatives
due to various health issues.
Lactose-free milk in the spotlight
For dairy producers in Russia, healthy lifestyle trends bring not only
problems but also opportunities, especially in the lactose-free segment,
Unagrande Company claimed.
"The development of lactose-free product lines is a global
trend in the dairy industry. People are increasingly suffering from
discomfort after consuming cow's milk, so they are looking for a
replacement option. According to research by the Vavilov's Institute
of General Genetics, now on average, 30% of the Russian
population suffers from lactose intolerance," commented Elena
Kondrashova, marketing director of Unagrande Company.
IDM ¦ Markets
The Russian dairy market grows
Author: Vladimir Vorotnikov, Moscow, Russia
Changing consumer tastes and rising export supplies push
Russian dairy companies to expand and adjust product
range in order to stay on top. Since the introduction of
the 2014 food embargo, Russia managed to boost milk
production by 4.1 million tonnes, estimated Artem Belov, general
director of the Russian union of dairy producers Soyuzmoloko. In
2020, Russia produced 32.2 million tonnes of milk – the highest
figure since 2008. For instance, this is just 1.3 million tonnes lower
compared to the all-time record set in 2002, which seems to be
just within grasp now.
However, Russian dairy companies have had to deal with new
challenges in the past few years. The dynamics of the domestic demand
remain flat while its structure keeps changing. Russians are
purchasing more cheese every year while cutting the consumption
of some other milk products, Belov said, citing the official government
statistics. In particular, this concerns kefir – a popular Russian
fermented dairy product, the popularity of which goes downhill in
Russia but is reportedly on the rise in some European and American
countries.
The main challenge Russian dairy producers have to reckon
with is gaining popularity of healthy lifestyle trends. Almost all
dairy companies experience its influence.
"During the Covid-19 pandemic, the trend towards healthy,
proper nutrition grew stronger. People began paying more attention
to their health, choosing food more carefully, looking for
products with added value – with vitamins and probiotics. People
also began caring about the balance of fats and buy foods with
less sugar. That is, demand has shifted towards more functional
value-added dairy products," said Elena Kipeneva, head of the
Russian branch of Valio.
Marketing research conducted by, a Russian cheese producer,
Unagrande Company showed that as much as 39% of Russian
customers during the past several years to some extent switched
22 · January/February 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com
Traditional dairy products
lose popularity in Russia
/international-dairy.com
