Meat consumption in Russia will reach 80 kg per person this year

“It's good for the consumer. For the manufacturer, this means increased competition, inevitably increasing the concentration of the market in those industries where economies of scale work. For example, in pig and poultry farming, economies of scale work, and, most likely, concentration will increase here,” Dalnov said. In dairy farming, this is less felt due to the “space” for medium and small enterprises, especially if they are built into local chains with niche products. 

According to Dalnov, demand is reflected in retail prices. However, one cannot rely only on the income of the population when it comes to demand, since there is also an uneven distribution of income. “Price is the factor that influences demand in the short term most of all, but the traditions of consumption overlap everything in the long term,” Dalnov noted, adding that demand is also influenced by “stories that people tell each other”, sharing his opinion about one product or another. Also, demand is affected by a gradual change in attitudes towards the content and quality of fats and carbohydrates in products.

“A good trend for livestock breeders who live and are not going anywhere is clean label or “clean etiquette”. Animal breeders produce clear, simple products with a very short label. Producers of ultra-processed products, vegetable “meat”, “milk” cannot boast of this - their label is much longer. This factor of striving for a clean label is something that is beneficial, ”the expert is sure.

In RUSSIA, there is a problem with life expectancy, and it is possible that it is related to nutrition, and the state can influence it, Dalnov believes. To do this, for example, it is possible to finance research in the field of healthy nutrition; to review studies and sources in this area and make recommendations; conduct an audit of diets in educational institutions, training programs for nutritionists; adopt a law on lobbying; introduce restrictions on advertising of certain products, periodically conduct advertising social campaigns aimed at improving the diet; manage demand through food aid programs. “Usually the counterargument is no money, but moneycan be found through excise taxes. I understand that this is letting the genie out of the bottle, but, probably, this will have to be done, ”concluded Dalnov.