The main reason for the refusal to produce bars is not at all the manufacturers of the necessary equipment leaving the Russian market, as some media wrote.
“The American company Mars has imposed sanctions on the supply of these bars to Russia from France. Mars ice cream, which was produced in Russia (popsicle and ice cream in cups), continues to be produced,” said explained Natalia Utkina, Deputy Director General of the Union of Glaciers of Russia.
According to the expert, in Russia we can easily replace the bars. “There is enough equipment for their production in Russia and Belarus. We quietly produce such ice cream without Mars, even without Mars. Another thing is that the demand for these bars is low and there is not any there is simply no question of full-fledged import substitution,” says Natalia Utkina.The share of imported ice cream on Russian shelves was already low, around three to five percent.
Moreover, “those foreign brands that left Russia mainly used domestic ingredients – milk, cream, butter, granulated sugar… There are small nuances with a number of products that used foreign flavors, but there are also has problems with their supplies No, “says Natalya Utkina.
What about import substitution? Can Russia and Belarus replace foreign brands and types of ice cream?
Certainly! But “import substitution is serious work, a lot is not finished yet. We still receive some of the ingredients from other countries, including Europe,” says the expert.
Nevertheless, the industry has shifted almost entirely to household dyes. With perfumes, the situation is more complicated.
“In order to create smells identical to the extinct ones, serious and time-consuming work is required. If each manufacturer has dozens of product types in its portfolio, it may take more than a year to work on import substitution”, said Natalya Utkina. .
But some types of thickeners in the State of the Union cannot yet be imported: the crops from which they are prepared do not grow in Russia and Belarus. “These include guar gum, locust bean gum. Previously, we received these ingredients from southwestern Europe, but now we will have to refocus on other suppliers,” says Natalia Utkina.
As for the love of Belarusians and Russians for ice cream, according to the Union of Ice Cream Workers, the volume of its consumption is not so high. In Belarus, a little more than three kilograms per person per year, in Russia even less – about 2.6 kilograms.
The share of Belarusian raw materials in the production of Russian ice cream can reach up to 60%
The expert noted the high quality of Belarusian ice cream, which is traditionally popular with Russian delicacy lovers. But it practically does not differ from Russian.
“Technologies for the production of ice cream in Russia and Belarus are approximately the same. And then a lot depends on specific recipes and technologies,” noted Natalya Utkina. She drew attention to the fact that Russian producers use a lot of Belarusian butter, powdered and condensed milk in the production of ice cream.
“Many manufacturers prefer Belarusian raw materials. For example, in the recipe for ice cream, the share of milk, which is often used specifically Belarusian, reaches 60%,” said the expert.
Russian ice cream is also supplied to Belarus. “The volume of deliveries is small, Kazakhstan takes the first place in terms of ice cream exports. I would like to note that the supply of ice cream in Belarus is not decreasing, it is assumed that they will continue to grow”, Natalia Utkina said summary.
What kind of ice cream can you buy in the capital of Russia? I went to several stores and made sure that the assortment was really very large – there is Vologda and Yaroslavl Plombirs, I also found Chelyabinsk fruit ice cream. There are also Belarusian ice creams in large retail chains, various ice creams of the Milk Republic brand are very popular with buyers. If you use the services of online stores, you can taste the sweet delicacy of such brands as Zelena Buryona and Morozproduct.
By the way, the most common white ice cream is bought most often, its share in sales can reach 70%.
On the price side, market experts note a slight decrease in the cost of milk and dairy ingredients in 2023 at the same time as a slight increase in the cost of packaging. In theory, these two processes should leave the price of a treat roughly the same.
As for production volumes, “taking into account the month of April, ice cream production increased by 2% compared to last year”. According to Natalya Utkina, “there are good conditions for the market to develop by the end of the year, we will sell more ice cream than in 2022”.
By the way, if we take into account May, then, according to the Chestny Znak marking system, the production of sweet treats for five months already amounts to 214.7 thousand tons.
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