"Samokat" created a company for the production of ready-made food

Samokat was launched in 2018 by former top managers of Magnit Vyacheslav Bocharov and Rodion Shishkov. In 2020, control over the project was acquired by a joint venture between Sberbank and VK, O2O Holding, from which VK withdrew in 2022, receiving Delivery Club, which was then transferred to Yandex in exchange for Zen and News. According to Infoline, at the end of 2022, Samokat ranked third among the largest operators of online food delivery services with a turnover of 82.5 billion rubles. Now the service operates in 50 cities of Russia.

Anna Buylakova, an analyst at Finam Financial Group, said that there is now a global trend towards growth in sales of ready-made food. Allied Market Research estimates that the global prepared meals market could reach $408 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 11.9%. “We look at the prospects for the industry in Russia very positively, the market for finished products is developing, and there is a high level of competition,” says the expert. “Offers in the prepared food market offer a good alternative to cooking at home or eating out, combining convenience and relatively low prices compared to traditional catering (cafes, restaurants).”

Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Rusprodsoyuz Association Dmitry Leonov said that the volume of prepared food production in Russia is growing every year. The development of this segment corresponds to the urbanization trend and is included in the strategy of the largest retail chains. “For consumers this is a significant time saving, for business it is an opportunity to expand the range and further attract customers. Therefore, this segment will certainly continue to develop both in terms of increasing supply and in terms of introducing various formats,” he believes.

General Director of Infoline-Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov told Kommersant that the demand for ready-made food in retail is growing, especially among online players, so it makes sense for Samokat to develop its production capacity. It involves the possibility of acquiring or building a kitchen factory, including in a large darkstore, or partnership with an existing manufacturer.

Samokat’s competitor, Yandex Shop, is already developing its own production. In 2020, the service launched a kitchen factory in St. Petersburg , and now its production capacity reaches 450 tons of products per month, a representative of the service told Kommersant. In addition to ready-made dishes under its own brand, Yandex Lavka also sells cookery and dishes from restaurants. The share of this category is more than 20% of the total turnover, and sales of ready-made food from the service in the first half of 2023 almost doubled compared to last year, the company compared.

According to Rosselkhozbank, in 2022, the production volume of ready-made meals on the Russian market amounted to 216 thousand tons, which is 27.1% more than in 2021. Since 2017, production volume has increased annually by an average of 55%. Based on this, by 2025 it is expected that the production volume of finished products will reach 800 thousand tons. According to bank analysts, on average, Russian residents allocate about 7% of their expenses to the purchase of finished products (excluding visits to cafes and restaurants, which is 3. 5-4%).