Russian bread-bakers prefer home grown options
bread using domestic yeast still dominates the Russian market. This
trend continues despite attempts by international companies such as
Le Saffre to increase imports.
Consultancy firm Market Advice has reported that the production of bread using domestic yeast still dominates the Russian market. This trend continues despite attempts by international companies such as Le Saffre to increase the amount of yeast and improvers that are imported into the country.
The Market Advice report, which was put together after a thorough examination of over 200 industrial bakers across the country, found that 94 per cent of bakers used Russian packaged yeasts.
Only 7 per cent claimed to use imported packaged yeasts and 15 per cent used imported instant yeastsRussian company Kurgansky drozzhevoy zavod was considered to provide the best quality yeast, while Le Saffre was the highest-placed foreign firm.
The report also investigated the general marketing and consumption of bakery improvers within the Russian baking industry. Some 64 per cent of bakers said they used improvers in bread making.
However, Market Advice researchers believe that this figure could be higher. Bakery improvers have gained a reputation in Russia for being a harmful ingredient, and the consultancy contends that some larger factories might be covering up their use of the product.
The report also looked at the spread of bakery production technologies within the country. Only 1 per cent of bakeries used accelerated technology, while just 3 per cent of factories covered in the report had liquid fermenting facilities.
According to Market Advice, the majority of Russian bakeries - 61 per cent - used domestic equipment installed between the last five and 10 years. Some 6 per cent of bakers used domestic equipment older than 10 years, while only 1 per cent of bakers use imported equipment older than a decade.
Nearly half of the plants investigated had installed imported or domestic equipment that was almost new.
Market Advice concluded that many bread-baking facilities in Russia are currently renovating their baking equipment, and that old Soviet-era equipment is slowly being phased out.
For more information on the Russian and CIS bakery or other food or ingredients markets, contact Katrin Myagkova at Market Advice.
