Conference «Fresh Produce Category: New Reality for Producers, Suppliers and Retailers». (13.09.2016)

The Conference «Fresh Produce Category: New Reality for Producers, Suppliers and Retailers» is the largest event that units all members of the fruit and vegetables industry in Russia.

Being a Sponsor of the Conference your company will not only support this event, which is highly important for the Russian fresh produce market, but will have an opportunity to reach key Russian market players with the information about your products and services.

To become the Conference Sponsor or to ask any questions please contact «FruitNews» office via e-mail: Адрес электронной почты защищен от спам-ботов. Для просмотра адреса в вашем браузере должен быть включен Javascript. or phone: +7 (495) 729-3080.

Results of «Fresh Produce Category: An Era of Change» Conference
September 15, 2015

Where's Russia's Fresh Produce Market Headed? State of Industry Discussed at World Food Forum in Moscow

The conference «Fresh Produce Category: An Era of Change», organized by the information agency FruitNews and the exhibition company ITE Moscow, took place on September 15, 2015 in the framework of the 9th Food Forum of World Food Trade Show. The conference attracted over one hundred participants of the Russian fresh produce industry, from producers to the largest retailers of Russia.

This event was a unique platform for exchanging ideas between representatives of every level of the fruit and vegetable supply chain, industry representatives and state structures. The keys to understanding the dynamic situations taking place and generating change on the Russian market were found at the conference.

The conference featured presentations by Assistant to the Head of Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Aleksey Alekseenko that uncovered the changes in the Russian legislation, documentation and the procedures necessary to conduct deliveries of fruit, vegetables, seeds and planting materials to Russia, and Deputy Director of the Department of Plant, Chemicals and Plant Protection Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Podzemelnykh, who described in detail the situation regarding the development of horticulture and governmental programs of support for Russian producers.

First Deputy Head of the Department of Trade Barriers, Currency and Export Control of Russia's Federal Customs Service Andrey Ryazanov talked about the import procedures for fruits and vegetables, and defined the most frequent mistakes made when declaring such products. During the discussion between the Customs Service representative, importers and retailers that took place after this presentation, participants expressed their various points of view on the requirements for the organization of shipments and the declaration of products.

General Director of the Information Agency FruitNews Irina Koziy discussed the current market changes. She said that there was a significant decrease in the demand for fruit and vegetables over the last year. She also spoke briefly about domestic yields as well as changes in the volumes of produce and adapting the geography of fruit and vegetable imports. News about a significant growth in supplies of fruit, including exotic fruit like kiwis, and vegetables to Russia from Belarus resonated the most with the audience.

President the Association of Producers, Importers and Exporters of Fresh Produce (APIEFP) and General Director of Globus Group David Kalikhman spoke about the reduced import volumes of fruits and vegetables as a result of a drop in purchasing power. Later he touched on the jump in the course of the dollar to the ruble, changes of the economic situation in the country and the supply restrictions on products from a number of countries. He suggested that the government cancels the customs duties on bananas, apples, pears and citrus from December to June, the time in which the market is most dependent on imports, in order to reduce the cost of products and allow the Russian citizens to increase their vitamin intake during this time.

General Director of «Fabrika Ovoschey» Aleksandr Sabirov, Director of «Ozery» JSC Sergey Pryamov and the Head ofFermer.ru portal Aleksey Volozhanndiscussed Russia's domestic production of potatoes and vegetables on various scales. Speeches from agricultural producers were a big source of information, not only for industry issues, but also for their recommendations and steps undertaken to solve these problems. Many large manufacturers, both independently and as part of an industry of groups and associations have already engaged in dialogue with the relevant government agencies and try to jointly improve the difficult situation of domestic vegetable production in Russia in recent years.

The agricultural equipment supplier Agropak sponsored the conference. The company’s representative Ivan Chumanov spoke about the presales processing, packaging and packing of potatoes, vegetables and fruit as an opportunity for local producers of these products to obtain a competitive advantage in the market.

The audience took a significant interest in the reports of Sergey Korolev, president of the National Vegetable Producers' Union, and Tatiana Gubina, the Head of Administration of the Russian Potato Union. Conference participants were able to become acquainted with the activities, membership benefits and the results of these associations.

The last rounds of discussion were a part of the «Path to Retail» session, which featured two of the largest Russian retail chains - Svetlana Chebarova, Quality Director of X5 Retail Group, and Konstantin Ilyin, Director on Fresh Category Import Purchases of Magnit Retail Chain. The retailers expressed their desire for quality, packaging and other necessary characteristics of fruit and vegetable products, as well as interaction between the supplier and the chain. Active discussion of a wide range of issues related to the product entrance to the retail chain, the choices of suppliers and logistics for fruit and vegetable products from store shelves to consumers was held between the conference participants and speakers.

To sum up the conference, participants said that despite all the difficulties, changes in the market over this past year were regarded as opportunities for development. Although the previous year was particularly painful and difficult for many industry participants, the situation has given rise to discussions about the country's fruit and vegetables production industry in the public sphere. The attention to the problems of the industry and its opportunities was attracted on the state level, in the mass media and among consumers. The emergence of dedicated governmental programs to support the sector’s expansion will provide opportunities for growth and development of the fresh produce category in terms of domestic production and market saturation.