A shareholder of the manufacturer Frutonyani invested in snacks under the Reel brand

Growing sales of snacks in Russia encourage new players to enter this market. The project to produce vegetable, fruit and meat chips, popcorn and candy bars was launched by the structure of Olga Belyavtseva, a shareholder of the baby food manufacturer Frutonyanya. Demand for such snacks is limited by the high price, but profitability in the category can be high, analysts say.

The shareholder of the manufacturer of baby food under the Frutonyanya brand, Olga Belyavtseva, has a project to produce snacks under the Reel brand, as follows from the data on the product’s website and the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The products, as follows from the Reel labels, are produced by order of Everest LLC, owned by Mrs. Belyavtseva, on third-party sites. And Evermount LLC, controlled by it, filed applications to register the corresponding logo, according to Rospatent. Reel’s range includes vegetable, fruit and meat chips, popcorn, fruit bars and candy. On the online storefront of Perekrestok, fruit chips are sold for 229.99 rubles. per package weighing 15 g, vegetable chips – 109.99 rubles. for 30 g, bars cost from 84.99 rubles. excluding discounts. Everest told Kommersant that they are planning to expand the portfolio, without disclosing the volume of investments in the project and sales plans.

Forbes in 2021 estimated Olga Belyavtseva’s fortune at $600 million, which corresponded to sixth place in the ranking of the richest women in Russia. At the end of 2022, through Progress Capital JSC, she owned more than 25% of the Progress company, which produces Frutonyanya baby food and Lipetsk pump-room water, according to the Progress report. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Ms. Belyavtseva also owns 70% of the Agronom-Sad company, which manages about 2 thousand hectares of apple orchards in the Lipetsk region.

Managing partner of Walnut Capital Artem Motorny says that vegetable and fruit snacks are products of the middle and higher price segments, which, due to their high prices, cannot be put on the shelf in many chains, which limits the group of potential consumers. But, he adds, profitability in the category could be even higher than in baby food, especially if owners can optimize selling and administrative costs. With the right selection of assortment, product lines can complement each other, Mr. Motorny points out.

The snack market has recently attracted new players. General Director of MPBC “Ochakovo” (kvass “Ochakovsky”, beer “Khalzan”, etc.) Yuri Antonov told Shopper’s about his intention to launch the production of cereal bars. The portal also wrote about the plans of the owner of the supplier of ready-made meals “Milti” Oleg Savtsov to start producing chips, crackers and nuts. The co-owners of the Major holding also entered this market by acquiring the production of vegetable snacks under the La Batata brand (see “Kommersant” dated October 3, 2023).

Executive Director of the Food Rev PC (Kick bars) Alexander Filimonov points out that the segment of bars focused on healthy eating has moved from the growth stage to saturation. Competition has increased, manufacturers are expanding their range and distribution, and the emergence and growth of new brands is possible provided that the offer is unique, the top manager warns.

According to NielsenIQ, in 2023, retail sales of snacks, including chips, seeds, nuts, dried seafood, and salty biscuits, grew 7.1% in volume and 16.1% in value. More than 43% of the market in money accounts for chips, physical sales of which increased by 11.1% in 2023, and cash sales by 19.9%. And large manufacturers of traditional chips are also expanding their range. Thus, the structure of the American PepsiCo “Frito Lay Manufacturing” received a declaration in November 2023 to produce Lay’s potato and cereal chips. And Chernogolovka Group of Companies launched wheat and potato chips on the site purchased from Kellogg’s. PepsiCo and Chernogolovka did not comment.

Rusbrand executive director Alexey Popovichev expects that the demand for fruit and vegetable snacks will continue to grow, primarily in large cities. According to him, entering the market with a new brand through contract manufacturing does not require significant investments, and marketing costs will depend on the scale of distribution.

Anatoly Kostyrev