Pork and chicken have become a luxury: no one believes in price rollbacks

“Each manufacturer raises the margin on the goods, because they do not know what to expect from tomorrow”

Since the beginning of August, disappointing signals have been received from the country’s food market that meat of all kinds is becoming more expensive. Since the beginning of the year, pork and chicken meat have already risen in price by 20 and 16.5 percent, respectively. And from September, prices for turkey meat will rise by 6.5 percent. The Federal Antimonopoly Service even decided to deal with the unreasonable increase in prices and began its own investigation. And the Ministry of Agriculture assured consumers that meat is about to start getting cheaper.

According to a recent FOM poll, 40% of Russians felt the rise in meat prices most of all in August. And this is not surprising! I go to the supermarket closest to my house. According to the action, a kilogram of pork costs 300 rubles. This is if the discount is declared. And if it is not there, then 359. Just 3 weeks ago, a chilled ham could be bought for 250 rubles. A medium-sized chicken carcass costs 309 rubles, although recently it was within 200 …

Back on August 9, the Ministry of Agriculture assured that everything was under control, nothing critical could be traced on the meat market, prices would level out. This very alignment was attributed by the department to the end of August. Since the month is already coming to an end, the decrease in meat prices is smoothly transferred to the beginning of September. There is supposedly a special reason for this: positive dynamics in poultry and pig breeding. That is, production volumes are growing.

Meanwhile, until recently, both pork and chicken were the most affordable types of meat for Russians. It is understandable: both industries completely covered the internal needs of the country, and even peasants exported certain volumes abroad.

How to explain the reasons for the August rise in prices, if there is no import dependence? And what is left for us now – to switch to a vegetarian diet? After all, red meat – beef and lamb – is not for the wallet of the average Russian for a long time …

The rise in price of all types of meat is explained by farmers as a temporary phenomenon. An exotic seasonal factor and the development of … domestic tourism in the country. In short: Central Russia, going on a trip somewhere to Kamchatka, stocks up on meat delicacies. Hence the rush demand for meat and, as a result, the price increase. But as soon as everyone returns from distant wanderings, prices will creep down.

Such an explanation, frankly, does not look very convincing, so we call the manufacturers directly: why are prices rising? Manufacturers claim that the seasonal factor and mass tourism have absolutely nothing to do with it. On the contrary: with the beginning of the harvesting campaign, grain and feed are getting cheaper, a kilogram of fodder grain now costs 13-15 rubles, it’s a sin to complain. Rather, the collapse of the ruble and general economic uncertainty influence the rise in prices.

Vasily Melnichenko, a Ural farmer, admits that he is surprised by his compatriots, who are always indignant at the rise in price of one, then the other, then the third: “As if something has ever become cheaper here. There was no such thing. And there won’t be any more.”

– At one point, diesel fuel has risen in price – from 52 thousand rubles per ton to 60-62 thousand rubles, – he continues. – This year, prices for spare parts for agricultural machinery, fertilizers and plant protection products have seriously risen. Hence the prices go up.

– Peasants at least cover their expenses for keeping and raising animals?

“Not a ruble,” he replies. – Intermediaries and processors buy a kilogram of pork from them for 160 rubles, this is a red price.

Doctor of Economics, farmer Dmitry Valigursky, along with the objective problems of the ruble exchange rate, sees market instability as the main reason for the increase in meat prices.

– Each manufacturer increases the markup on the goods, because they do not know what to expect from tomorrow, – he says. – Buyers also try to minimize their risks. If today pork is 300 rubles a kilo, then tomorrow it can cost 400 rubles. If you put a little bit in the freezer, then you can not think about prices at all for six months. The situation is serious, because the number of livestock in Russia is not increasing, and in terms of cattle it is completely declining.

Of course, no one believes that meat prices will soon return to their old values. Even the formidable antimonopoly service is unlikely to “make a rustle” in the sacraments of consumer pricing. Moreover, the diagnosis was made by the Ministry of Agriculture: the phenomenon is seasonal and temporary. And in Russia, as you know, there is nothing more permanent than temporary.