Russians began to buy red caviar more often

Russians purchased more than 5 million kilograms of red caviar in the year 2024, from January to November, which is 12% more in volume compared to the same period of 2023. This is stated in the results of the study of the loyalty program "X5 Club", which were reviewed by "Izvestia" on December 17. The most caviar was bought in the first quarter: it accounted for 1.5 million kilograms.

At the same time, experts found out that buyers are not yet ready to switch to imitation caviar: its sales decreased by 1% year-on-year to 1.6 million kg. In total, supermarket visitors spent 11% more on imitation caviar than last year due to the choice of more expensive items.

The volume of purchased black caviar decreased more significantly - by 16% to 99 thousand kg. At the same time, the demand for more expensive black caviar increased, the price of which did not increase, and in some cases there was a decrease, according to the results of the study.

According to analysts, the greatest increase in demand for caviar is observed in Chelyabinsk - by 41% year-on-year, up to 50 thousand kg. And the largest decrease - in Nizhny Novgorod (-2%, up to 79 thousand kg). It is in this city that a shift to more expensive caviar is observed, but at the same time it is bought less often.

At the same time, sales of crab meat and sticks in retail chains are steadily growing. Over the year, Russians bought 14.7 million products, which is 9% more than the same indicator of 2023.

Can time: salmon caviar production in Russia has fallen threefold

Producers and regulators attribute this to a failed poutine season

Earlier, on November 26, the founder of the network of stores "Caviar" Evgeny Shuvalov said that it is not worth waiting for an additional rise in caviar prices in December. According to him, conscientious sellers have already formed New Year stocks of products in warehouses, sales volumes are clear and there are no factors that can seriously affect prices on store shelves. At the same time, he clarified that before that prices had increased due to weak catches of salmon in the Far East during the 2024 salmon season, as well as due to rising costs for fish producers and manufacturers.