Consumption of vegetables, fruits and dairy products in the country is significantly below the norm

At the same time, MEAT consumption exceeds the norm recommended by the Ministry of HEALTH by 19 kg.

Residents of RUSSIA are malnourished by tens of kilograms of potatoes, MILK and dairy products, as well as vegetables and fruits, writes RIA Novosti with reference to the words of an associate professor at the basic department of trade policy of the Russian University of Economics. Plekhanov Svetlana Kazantseva. Thus, according to Rosstat, in 2020, the average consumption of milk and dairy products was 272 kg per person (hereinafter - in home meals) at a rate of 325 kg, and in this category the biggest lag behind the norms recommended by the Ministry of Health.

In second place, according to Kazantseva, are vegetables and melons. According to Rosstat, last year their average consumption was 104 kg, while the norm was 140 kg. Potatoes are next: at a recommended intake of 90 kg per year, the average consumption was 56 kg. Moreover, potato consumption is declining from year to year: if in 2010 it was at the level of 66 kg, then in 2015 it was 58 kg.

There is also a significant difference in fruits and berries: last year, on average, a resident of Russia ate 77 kg at a rate of 100 kg. The average consumption of eggs in 2020 averaged 240 pieces - five pieces more than in 2019, but 20 less than the recommendations of the Ministry of Health. The average consumption of meat and meat products was 92 kg at a rate of 73 kg. The consumption of bread products was at the level of 96 kg, which corresponds to the norm, but the figure gradually decreased: in 2000, on average, a Russian ate 109 kg of this product per year, in 2010 - 102 kg, in 2015 - 95 kg.

“The statistics show that the consumption of bread is declining from year to year. The same data indicate that the consumption of confectionery products, including FLOUR products, is growing,” commented Igor Sviridenko, vice president of the Russian Union of Flour and Cereal Enterprises (RSMKP). “According to our estimates, there is no drastic reduction in flour consumption in Russia.”

He draws attention to the fact that Rosstat data is incorrect. Sviridenko explains his position by the fact that in Russia there is an industrial flour mill, which occupies 60% of the total consumption, and the rest is accounted for by small flour mills, which are not taken into account in statistics. Therefore, the RSMPC does not agree that the consumption of flour in Russia relative to the Soviet period has declined significantly: a decrease of only 25-30% can be noted, while Rosstat speaks of a two-fold drop from 130 kg to 63 kg per capita. According to RSMPC, consumption is about 100 kg. In addition, according to Sviridenko, Rosstat data from different collections often contradict each other.

According to the Rosstat bulletin “Consumption of basic food products by the population”, in 2019 (the results for 2020 have not yet been published), the average per capita consumption of meat and meat products in Russia amounted to 76 kg per person, while from the bulletin on household consumption it follows that in the same year it was at the level of 90.5 kg. For dairy products, the first bulletin indicates consumption of 234 kg per person, the second - about 265 kg. For eggs - 285 pieces (which is higher than the norm of the Ministry of Health) and 235, respectively, for vegetables and fruits - 170 kg and over 179 kg.

The HEAD of the Fruit and Vegetable Union, Mikhail Glushkov, links the insufficient consumption of vegetables, melons, and potatoes with a decrease in real disposable incomes of the population. “Of course, it’s sad that people have to save on social goods – vegetables, potatoes – because these are not premium products,” he adds. According to Glushkov, in the second half of 2021, prices for vegetables of the "borscht set" will decrease, and their consumption should increase.

Berries, according to Glushkov, are still more of a delicacy than a necessity, and therefore many do not reach the norm of their consumption. “Insufficient consumption of fruits is most likely due to the increase in their prices, because most of them are imported. We only mass-produce apples, which will show a good harvest this year, and now, according to producers, they are half the price of last year, commented Glushkov. “So their consumption in the second half of the year will also increase relative to the same period last year and the first six months of 2021.”

The difference in consumption between the first decile group (lowest income) and the tenth (highest income) is most noticeable in the consumption of fruits and berries - it is more than twofold. If the wealthiest consumers last year, according to Rosstat, ate an average of 105.6 kg each, then the poorest - 42.9 kg each. The difference in vegetable consumption is 121.2 kg versus 68 kg, in meat and meat products – 110.9 kg versus 58.9 kg, in dairy products – 348.4 kg versus 173.1 kg.

Indeed, people in Russia consume quite a few vegetables, says Konstantin Korneev, executive DIRECTOR of Rincon Management. This, he says, is due to the fact that the buyer, on a limited budget, makes a choice in favor of more nutritious meat at comparable prices. “The lack of fruits and vegetables in the structure of consumption is a very serious disadvantage,” he adds. At the same time, the positive aspects include the fact that in Russia they consume a lot of animal protein, the expert believes.

There is a potential for growth in the consumption of milk and dairy products, but it is primarily associated with an increase in the real disposable income of the population, and the current volume of consumption is provided both by domestic production and supplies from Belarus. “It cannot be said that we have a critical underconsumption of milk, in contrast to vegetables and fruits, which are very few in the diet,” says Korneev.

Russian Food Market - Trends and Forecasts (July 2021 edition) 

In addition, in order to increase the consumption of milk and dairy products, it is necessary to form a consumption culture, recalling their benefits. Korneev cites CHINA as an example: 15 years ago, these products were not in great demand among the population of the republic, but they gradually began to adopt Western traditions in terms of regular consumption of milk and dairy products. “However, the recommendations of the Ministry of Health on consumption should be considered solely as a reference material, and not as a dogmatic reflection of the nutrition structure in the conditions of the modern lifestyle of the population,” the expert concluded.