Modern artificial: demand for imitated caviar has grown in Russia
The demand for imitated (artificial) red caviar has grown by 19% over the year, analysts of Kontur.Market, who analyzed receipts in retail outlets across the country in October-November compared to last year, told "Izvestia". The reasons - a strong (up to Br9.5 thousand per kg) rise in the price of natural, as well as the decline in its production this year. A sharp jump in interest in the alternative product is confirmed by the Fish Union and the Association of Production and Trade Enterprises of the fish market - they named the growth of the quality of imitated caviar among the reasons.
Why Russians buy artificial caviar
Russians have started to switch from natural red caviar to imitated (artificial) caviar. Over the year, the demand for it increased by 19%, told "Izvestia" analysts "Contour.Market", who studied 1.5 million checks, punched in different retail outlets across the country in the period from October 1 to December 8, 2024, and compared this data with the same period last year.
- The growth in demand for imitation caviar was primarily influenced by a significant increase in prices for the natural product. Many Russians are trying to cut costs and switch to a more budget-friendly analog," Daria Zhigalina, the company's analyst, explained to Izvestia.
According to the experts of the organization, compared to last year, the average price for 1 kg of imitation caviar has increased by only 4% - from Br960 to Br1 thousand per 1 kg. At the same time, the cost of a kilogram of natural caviar on marketplaces, depending on the species of salmon fish and packaging can reach from Br9 to Br12 thousand.
The trend of growing demand for imitated caviar was confirmed in the Fish Union, whose members are such major companies as "Meridian", "Russkoe More", "Baltic Coast" and others.
- We note a trend to increase the consumption of imitated caviar and compared to last year we see a drop in the consumption of natural moose caviar. This was influenced by two main factors. Firstly, natural caviar has become much more expensive this year. The reasons for this were, among others, a bad year for salmon production in the Far East, as well as the "whitening" of the market, which began as a result of the introduction of labeling, - explained to "Izvestia" the chairman of the Union Alexander Panin.
This year in Russia the production of red caviar has decreased threefold, "Izvestia" wrote. According to the Federal State Information System in the field of veterinary medicine (FGIS "VetIS"), for 10 months of this year natural salmon caviar produced 10 thousand tons, while for the same period of 2023 - 29 thousand tons. The output of structured caviar, which is a caviar mass with the addition of complex food additives, also decreased. Its production amounted to 433 tons, which is 5.5% less than in the same period of 2023.
According to the expert, secondly, the producers of the artificial product have significantly improved its quality. Technologies of production of imitated caviar are improving: it becomes a tasty product available to the population, said Alexander Panin. It is important that unlike natural caviar this caviar is anti-allergenic. The combination of factors has played in favor of increasing demand for such goods, added the business representative.
The growing popularity of imitated caviar was also recognized by Alexander Fomin, vice-president of the Association of production and trade enterprises of the fish market.
- Indeed, every year the output of such caviar increases. The reasons are different: firstly, imitated caviar looks beautiful - large, with a clear relief. Secondly, it is very affordable for the population. Someone takes it without noticing or reading that it is imitation, someone wants to try it, someone is nostalgic for the times when he could afford it," he explained to Izvestia.
At the same time, the expert noted that the demand for salmon caviar has recently increased in Russia as a whole. This happened, among other things, due to the high level of production in 2023.
- All this made it affordable. But if then caviar was 4 thousand per kg, this year its price reaches already 10 thousand rubles and more. Therefore, of course, this year, the difference in price plays in favor of artificial first of all, - said the representative of the business.
"Izvestia" sent requests to ACORT and major retail chains to comment on the growing demand for this product, as well as to Rosrybolovstvo.
Cost of red caviar on the market
The All-Russian Association of Fishery Producers (VARPE), however, told Izvestia that they do not observe a trend of growth in demand for imitation red caviar and conducted their own research, which showed different results.
- At our request, the NTech company calculated the sales of natural and imitation caviar in January-October 2024 compared to the same period last year. The former grew by 46.9%, the latter by only 9.2%," German Zverev, president of the association, told Izvestia.
According to him, natural and imitated caviar are not alternatives to each other, and consumers do not choose one or another caviar based on price.
- Imitated caviar is purchased as an ingredient for sauces, as an additive to snacks. Natural caviar is a festive treat, an indicator of hospitality and the status of the house for guests. Artificial can come close to natural in taste, but will never convey exactly this feeling of affluence. Therefore, it is hard to imagine that because of the high price people started to choose imitated products," said a representative of the fishing industry.
At the same time, he admitted that prices for natural salmon caviar have indeed increased.
- Caviar has been undervalued for a long time. Low prices distorted people's ideas about the value of this product. For a long time there were about 10-15% of poached caviar on the market, plus another 10-15% of products from one-day companies that used various tax avoidance schemes. Plus low-quality caviar," said German Zverev.
As a result, about 30% of illegal and low-quality caviar pressured the market as a whole and reduced the price. Now the price of caviar has stabilized at a fair level. VARPE does not expect further price growth, emphasized the business representative.
Sergey Mironov, the ombudsman of the restaurant business in Moscow, the founder of the "Meat&Fish" chain, has a different opinion about the future of imitated caviar.
- In the restaurant business a lot of such caviar is used to decorate dishes, to make them static and beautiful. But, of course, the consumption of imitated caviar by the population is also growing. This is due to rising prices for natural caviar, which not everyone can afford. Their desire is understandable, because they want something similar," the expert explained.
According to him, there are already studies showing that not all people can fully distinguish the taste of natural and imitated caviar, besides, manufacturers are investing in the development of technology for the production of non-natural product, so this caviar has a future, says the restaurateur.
Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative, agrees that it is not easy to distinguish imitation caviar from natural caviar at first glance. However, there are signs that Russians who want to buy a natural product should be guided by.
Firstly, according to the expert, the packaging or label must necessarily contain the word "caviar" and the type of fish from which it was obtained - for example, "salmon" or "sturgeon", as well as the expiration date, storage conditions, date of production, plant number, shift number, and fish industry index (the letter "P"). Secondly, it must contain the composition, net weight, nutritional value, name and location of the manufacturer, a single sign of product circulation on the EAEU market.
- Well, if you have already bought caviar and want to check it, the easiest way is to immerse it in boiling water, after which a natural product forms whitish flakes of coagulated protein. When the imitation or fake is immersed, there is no protein turbidity, but the water acquires the color in which the grains were colored, which may even dissolve," explained Oleg Pavlov.
At the same time, the public recognized that there is a category of people who quite consciously buy imitated goods.
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