Prices of Vegetables in the Russian Market up by 6.6% MoM

Russian industry associations such as the Russian Association of Retail Trade Companies and the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Importers have called for softening checks on foreign products to solve the problem of importing fruits, vegetables, and their products to Russia. Phytosanitary controls over deliveries from Turkey, Iran, Egypt, South Africa, Vietnam, and other countries have been strengthened since October last year, causing delays in Russian ports. As a result, the delays have increased delivery times, leading to damaged goods, and increased the costs of imported products for all the retail chains in the country.

Top January Vegetables Increases

According to Rosstat, at the end of 2021, borscht vegetables became the most expensive in stores among other products. Cabbage jumped in price by 150%, potatoes by 65%, beets by 48%, and carrots by 35% YoY. For 2022, vegetable prices in the Russian market have kept an upward trend like the previous year. By the end of January-22, the top increases were registered for white cabbage with 15% MoM; cucumber rose in price by 13.3%, tomatoes by 12.67%, garlic by 11.6%, and carrots by 7.2%.

Overall, the average cost of vegetables on the Russian market in January 2022 increased by 6.6% MoM and 4.2% YoY. Furthermore, the general YoY increase for January-22 for all food products in the Russian market was 16%, attesting to an overall yearly increase in all product types. Regarding fruit products, prices also registered an MoM increase in the same month of January, with grapes as the top increase with 12.4%, pears, and bananas by 9.1%. At the same time, oranges and lemons became cheaper by 4,4% and 1,9%, respectively.

Top February Vegetables Increases

The January increases reported by Rosstat had a few changes within the first week of February. From February 5 to February 11, the prices for cabbage and cucumbers have slowed down, while carrots and beets have accelerated their price, and potatoes and onions have actually decreased in price.

According to Rosstat data, the first week of February saw an average increase of 1.6% for all vegetables, with an increase from cucumbers of 2.6% and white cabbage of 2.4%. Although cucumbers and cabbages are both maintaining an increasing trend, the increase in the first week of February suggests that both are slowing down their increase rate compared to the previous months. In the case of carrots and table beet, these have accelerated their price increase from the previous weeks, with a 2.3% WoW increase for carrots and a 1.9% increase for table beet. At the same time, prices for onions have decreased for the first time in 2022 by 0.2% as well for potatoes with a 0.1% decrease.

Continuous Price Increase over the years for Imported Vegetables

Over the last five years, Russian vegetable prices have substantially increased, particularly in imported vegetables, as Russia has failed to increase its domestic production in its effort to achieve self-sufficiency. According to Rosstat, Russian vegetable prices have doubled in the last five years since 2016. Cabbage prices have risen by 240%, potatoes by 56%, carrots by 44%, and onions by 33%. Besides these products, two new vegetables have increased in price for 2021 and during January of 2022. Tomatoes in January had a 16.9% YoY increase in price, and cucumbers saw a 19% YoY increase.