NSPG: By the New Year, the retail price of beef will increase by 7-10%

According to the General Director of NSNG Roman Kostyuk, continuousThe rise in the price of domestic beef is due to a steady decline in production due to high costs. Furthermore, demand always increases before the New Year and Christmas holidays, leading to a corresponding price hike.

Beef production has been declining since the beginning of the last decade. Small and medium-sized enterprises that attempted to engage in beef cattle farming are leaving the market. According to the National Society of Cattle Breeders (NSPG), there are currently six dairy cows for every one beef cow in Russia.

Beef production is the only sector of the meat market that has failed to replace imports with domestic products to any extent , the expert noted. The need for foreign supplies remains at 280,000–320,000 tons per year, or approximately 20% of the total. Russian companies specializing in beef cattle production account for approximately 18% of the market; the remainder is essentially waste from the dairy sector, which is also reducing its livestock numbers and aiming to increase the productivity of dairy cows.

Petr Shelishch, Chairman of the Russian Consumers' Union, agrees with the industry union's forecast. There's no reason to expect the trend to reverse anytime soon, he noted, but the pace of price increases isn't prohibitive. Since the beginning of the year, chicken prices have increased by 29.7%, pork by 14.4%, and beef by 5.9%. Producers are struggling to stay afloat amid rising costs and rising production costs—a common challenge for all livestock farmers.