Demand for Georgian cuisine establishments for the first time outpaced interest in Italian cuisine establishments

The concepts of Italian food, which are traditionally very popular with Russian restaurateurs, began to give way to establishments of Georgian cuisine. One of the reasons is problems with the delivery of Mediterranean products, which has complicated the opening of Italian restaurants. Market participants hope that the trend will be supported by the opening of direct flights to Georgia and the growth of tourist flow to the country.

As follows from Franshiza.ru’s calculations, made at the request of Kommersant, in January-May, franchisee demand for opening Georgian cuisine chains grew by 35% year-on-year. According to 2GIS, now only in Moscow and the Moscow region, almost 900 cafes and restaurants and 223 fast food outlets offer Georgian cuisine.

For the first time, the demand for these concepts outstripped the interest in Italian cuisine establishments, which have always been popular with market participants, Franshiza.ru notes. According to analysts, in the first five months of this year, the share of Italian cuisine decreased from 42% of requests to 33%, while Georgian cuisine, on the contrary, increased from 24% to 32%.

Alexei Nebolsin, vice-president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, explains the decline in the number of Italian establishments by the unavailability of supplies of Mediterranean seafood or their high cost. A year ago, many restaurateurs were forced to adjust the menu because of this after the start of the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine (see “Kommersant” dated March 1, 2022).

The co-owner of the Tigrus holding (managing, in particular, the Shvili chain of Georgian restaurants) Henrik Winter and a representative of the Hochu Puri chain confirm that this year the demand for Georgian cuisine is growing. The “Hochu Puri” network has more than doubled over the past year, to 11 establishments throughout Russia. Mr. Winter says that since the beginning of this year, three new Shvili establishments have opened, and it is planned to launch 22 more outlets by the end of 2023. For comparison: last year, the holding opened only ten such establishments, and in 2021 – eight.

The number of Georgian cuisine restaurants is increasing not only due to the franchise. Restaurateurs create their own projects in this segment, says Alexei Nebolsin. This may be due to the increase in traffic in such establishments. For example, in the Puri Da Marilli Georgian food corner in the Central Market, according to a gastromarket representative, due to an increase in the number of visitors, revenue in January-May of this year increased by 20% against 11% for the same period in 2022.

Cafes of Georgian cuisine and in shopping centers began to open actively, says Alexey Vanchugov, managing partner of Vanchugov & Partners. According to the expert, Georgian establishments have replaced fast food operators in several facilities managed by his company.

Previously, Georgian restaurants and cafes were opened mainly by immigrants from Georgia, who relied on the authenticity of dishes, but paid less attention to the concept, design and service, explains Franshiza.ru expert Anna Rozhdestvenskaya. According to her, only in the last few years, Russian restaurateurs have begun to offer modern concepts for establishments in this direction.

Against this background, non-core investors also became interested in them. The representative of “Hochu Puri” says that if previously businessmen working in the restaurant market opened establishments in partnership with the network, now they are entrepreneurs from different industries.

Georgian cuisine establishments will lead among other concepts, which will be facilitated, in particular, by the newly opened direct flights to Georgia in mid-May, Alexey Nebolsin is convinced.

Tour operators have already started offering travelers organized tours to Georgia (see Kommersant of May 17). Mr. Nebolsin expects that the tourist flow to this country will later be converted into visitors to national cuisine restaurants already in Russia. But Anna Rozhdestvenskaya believes that in the long run, Georgian establishments are unlikely to become more popular with investors than Italian ones.

Daria Andrianova