Posted on 06/30/2005 11:21:27 AM PDT by nickcarraway
MOSCOW - Organic foodstuffs may fill European shops but they are almost totally unknown in Russia where they are seen as luxury items for the affluent few.
In the whole of Russia, a country of 140 million, there appears to be just one small specialty shop in the capital while larger supermarkets stock organic foods in modest quantities. "This must be for diabetics," a lady in her 50s said to a friend, as she walked past the organic food shelves in a Stockmann supermarket near the centre of the capital.
She expressed surprise when told organic foods are not only for diabetics, but beat a hasty retreat after checking prices.
"All food should be organic," she said. "And cheap."
Stockmann has had mixed results selling organics.
"People are not buying much, these products are very expensive," Snezhana, a section manager, told Reuters.
The store offers pastas, soya products, rice, canned vegetables, juices, teas, coffees and chocolates imported from France and Germany at prices significantly higher than those of non-organic equivalents.
Natalya, a manager at a supermarket of the Perekryostok chain, said a small organic food section occupying 4.5 square meters of 1,500 opened in the store in November 2004.
"Trade goes well. Clients are mostly local residents, both Russians and foreigners, as we have many diplomatic missions around," she said, though shoppers seemed more interested in traditional food.
The Ryzhaya Tykva (Orange Pumpkin), apparently the only specialty organic shop in Russia, opened in April 2004 near the city centre. Since then it has increased offerings by 50 percent to 1,500 items, Maria Fedoseyeva, shop deputy director, said.
"We have a stable clientele, mostly Russians with above average incomes, and foreigners. Some live close by, but some come from the outskirts of the city to shop," she said.
When asked why the shop was empty in mid-afternoon, she said with a smile: "Perhaps, you should come at a different time."
The shop has a range of foreign suppliers but offers Russian products, too -- milk, dairy and honey. Unlike the imports, which carry green price tags, these are labelled in orange, as there are no official standards for organic products in Russia.
A sister shop opened in February in prestigious Zhukovka Place, outside Moscow, where many rich Russians live but closed shortly afterwards for lack of customers, Fedoseyeva said.
PROSPECTS DIM
Agriculture officials have said Russia should export more organics, but only a few small farms have European certificates to export mainly buckwheat, wild berries and mushrooms.
"Some 9,000 hectares of land have been officially certified by foreign companies," said Tatyana Rybalova, an analyst with the Institute for Agricultural Market studies.
Many Russians grow vegetables on plots near country homes for their own use, but these hardly qualify as organics as the use of fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides is commonplace.
Mikhail Mishchenkov, managing partner of the CVS Consulting market research agency, told Reuters that draft rules for cultivating organics have been prepared but he did not say when they might be submitted to parliament.
"The market for ecologically clean products in Russia has large potential -- in the last 10-15 years much land has not been treated with chemical agents and it can obtain a status, permitting it to grow ecologically clean plants," he said.
"People are ready to pay more. It is natural, because people, especially in big cities feel a shortage of healthy, high-quality food," Mishchenkov said.
Agricultural analyst Rybalova is sceptical.
"Organic foods will occupy a small niche for a very long time," she said. "Only when we produce sufficient average products at average prices may we start thinking about producing more organic products."
It's actually harder for anyone to grow these boutique crops. I don't imagine Russia will have a healthy organic foods industry until its overall agriculture reaches world class status again.
My experience outside Moscow is food was as organic as the supplier who often was a neighbor. I don't think anyone is worried about getting organic french cow milk when their next door neighbor has a cow (as my wife's family's neighbor did). For those that shop at big Moscow shows maybe foreign goods are all the rage but when I was in provincial Russia most food was organic and from not very far from that city.
Sorry, but I prefer my food fertilized by nitrogen fertilizer instead of animal excrement.
This is not surprising. Remember only a few years back when Russians were standing in extremely long lines just to buy a few scraps of food. They haven't gotten pickey yet..........
B-B-But think of all the vitamins amd minerals you're missing! Along with e.coli, botulism, hepatitis, etc.........
Boy, you'd think that a country that produced Lysenko would buy into the organic thing.
Funny that the lefties are so vehement about the ignorance of creationist rednecks, yet buy into crackpot theories about organic food, macrobiotic food, non-GM food, etc., that have not a shred of scientific foundation.
-ccm
"All food should be organic," she said. "And cheap."
Do I even have to comment on this statement?
In a way, it DOES support the family farmer - if there are any family farmers left, that is.
Communist.
The "and Cheap" was the clincher.
I think they have IKEA in Moscow. Do they have Wal-mart there? Next up....Whole Foods!
I dont think of the Russians as knowing anything about food. Have you ever eaten in a Russian restaurant? They seem to confect everything in order to convince themselves that it is some kind of delicacy. I have limited exposure to their restaurants and cuisine, but my only other evidence: that of one's eyes, tells me that they are generally not a fit people.
"Organic food is one of the biggest financial scams ever, and those who buy it for its health effects are appallingly ignorant and anti-scientific."
You are a person after my own heart! A few of us, who market garden or like to grow our own food because it's in our blood due to how we were raised are wanting to start an Organic-Scam/Grow Your Own Ping List.
ccmay & anyone else please freepmail me if you're interested in joining us. :)
I'm not too crazy about cabbage and beets either. I attend a church where many of the members are of Russian heritage. They often prepare traditional Russian fare for church dinners. Not too appetizing.
YOu know, it is funny that cabbage and beets would probably pretty good and nutritious to boot. However, the Russians seem to sweeten it and do other things that make it almost non-food. Maybe it's because I am a diabetic and really hate it when sweetners are added to foods that do not really need it.
Are you familiar with the Homesteading Today website?
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