Economist Ilyashenko explained why city residents refuse to go to markets

Dorogomilovsky market is considered one of the most expensive among Muscovites, even its name is telling. There are many enthusiastic reviews about it on the Internet – about the “uniqueness and exclusivity” of the products sold there (but it is possible that this is written by representatives of the market administration).

In the first half of the day 5 days before the New Year, there is no excitement on Dorogomilovsky. But you can see expensive tangerines: Abkhazian and Turkish (mini) for 500 rubles, and Spanish ones for 600. The seller admitted that they increased the prices “slightly” for the new year. The prices for tomatoes are not encouraging: beautiful small Uzbek tomatoes are sold for 1200-1500 rubles per kilo. Ryazan pickled cucumbers, appetizing in appearance – 200 and 250 rubles. for 1 kg.

I ask two girls: what did they come to the market for?

– We’re just getting cheese! Yes, for the New Year’s table. No, we don’t need anything else here, the prices are too high.” We found Imeretian cheese here (Georgian) for 400 rubles. and Ossetian for 500 rubles.

The situation at the Usachevsky market is completely different. Those who buy food for cafes and restaurants in bulk have not yet arrived here, and therefore walk the aisles with huge carts. People are most actively buying meat, including tongue and pork feet (for jellied meat), sausages, and cheeses. One of the customers, loaded with bags of candy, was purchasing slices of various smoked meats. But in the rows of vegetables and fruits there is desolation, the sellers are bored. Maybe they are bored just because of the inflated prices? For example, Lukhovitsk pickled cucumbers are sold here for 350 rubles (at Dorogomilovsky for 200). The notorious sweet tomatoes from Uzbekistan, the dream of every housewife, still have the same exorbitant price: 1200-1500 rubles.

The traditional New Year’s main dish is duck, and there is an assortment of birds on offer here. True, those who are going to bake duck with apples or cabbage for the New Year will have to fork out more. The price is 1,450 rubles per kilo, and they weigh at least 3 kg. Simple arithmetic: a New Year’s duck will cost almost 4,500 rubles. Goose will be even more expensive, but neither one nor the other is a delicacy (well, it seems so).

The prices for ducks at the Danilovsky market, which has also been operating as a food court for almost 10 years, are a little more humane. Here, fat farm ducks are priced at 900 rubles per kilo, and sellers assure: the ducks are perfect, they will not contain excess fat, nor, on the contrary, empty bones.

– How long can a bird like this handle? — I’m asking the price for a small carcass.

The merchant immediately puts it on the scale: 2.3 kg. You will have to pay about 2,100 rubles – it’s already more pleasant than at the Usachevsky market, but you cannot ignore the specific structure of the duck. No matter what the traders say, there is bound to be fat in it: this means that a considerable amount of this weight will be rendered during baking. Well, no one is ever interested in a duck skeleton. In general, of course, it is much more convenient to buy duck legs and breasts separately. True, they cannot be called cheap either – 1500 and 1600 rubles per kilo, respectively – but at least there is no skeleton left. By the way, in one of the corners on Danilovsky you can buy smoked farm duck for 3,500 rubles.

However, those who want to spice up their New Year’s table with high-quality domestically produced products will have to fork out money at the Danilovsky market anyway. There is no way to call red fish from the Far East cheap. For 100 grams of lightly salted salmon you will have to pay 900 rubles here, and exquisite chinook salmon is even more expensive – 1000 rubles per hundred grams (that means ten per kilo?). The sellers are absolutely charming and willingly offer to try before you buy. The fish is truly beautiful – but perhaps not worth the money.

Another possible delicacy is high-quality Russian-made cheeses (import substitution!), made in the Altai Territory. Here the average price for brie, camembert, gorgonzola and other delicacies is 3,000 rubles per kilo; neutral semi-hard cream cheeses are cheaper.

The leitmotif of recent weeks has been the price of eggs: walking past the corresponding counters at the Usachevsky market is like walking through a museum. Here are eggs from a variety of farmsteads – the Moscow region, Diveevo, Vladimir region, etc. Starting from 140 rubles and up to… 350.

– Why such a price – 350 rubles? Are the chickens special, purebred?

“Well, they are somehow fed in a special way with expensive food, and environmental conditions of detention,” the seller shrugged.

In appearance, the 350-ruble eggs are no different from others, only their shades are somewhat unusual. For comparison, in a regular store, a “free-range C1 egg” costs 170 rubles per dozen. There are also a lot of eggs on Dorogomilovsky: quite small and ugly ones from Voronezh – 200 rubles, a little more attractive ones from Rostov – 250 rubles.

Good question: Are markets relevant today? After all, there are supermarkets and even home delivery services for groceries. As Svetlana Ilyashenko, associate professor at the basic department of trade policy at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, told MK, as of April 1, 2023, there were 18 retail markets operating in Moscow. This is slightly less (91.7%) than it was in 2022.

— The number of retail spaces in these facilities has also decreased by almost 10% over three months. In January-April 2023, the share of retail markets and fairs in the structure of retail trade turnover was 5.4% (for the comparable period in 2022 – 6.9%), Ilyashenko explained.

The decline in market attendance, according to the expert, is due to several factors. The first is that the price level for food products in markets is usually higher than in retail chains. Mostly individual entrepreneurs trade in the markets; they cannot compete with retail chains on prices, and the population is now trying to save money. The second factor is the rapid growth of online commerce and, in particular, the development of express delivery of food products. The third is the opening of new large shopping complexes, which provide both tenants and buyers with more attractive conditions compared to markets.

— In general, we are witnessing a transformation of trade in markets: the fashion for non-mass, exotic food products, as well as the consumer’s desire to buy “farm and environmentally friendly” products dictate their conditions. After reconstruction, markets acquire a single conceptual space, combining both sales points and catering points (food courts, food malls), where the buyer comes not only for high-quality and fresh products, but also for the emotions of visiting something unusual and interesting,” sums up expert.