Producers predicted an increase in beef prices of up to 10% by the New Year

General Director of the National Union of Beef Producers Roman Kostyuk said “Parliamentary newspaper”that by the New Year beef prices will increase by 7–10%. Among the reasons are a steady decline in production, pre-holiday price increases, and increased costs.

As Roman Kostyuk explained, beef production has been declining since about the 2010s, including due to the closure of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as due to the ratio of dairy and meat production: “in Russia now there are six dairy cows for every one beef cow.”

“Now we have come to the conclusion that beef production is the only industry that has not been able to close or at least seriously reduce the need for imports,” the publication’s interlocutor stated. “We still import from 280 to 320 thousand tons of imported goods.” beef per year, which is at least 20% of total production.”

At the same time, domestic production occupies 18% of the market. “The rest of the meat that ends up on the shelves is, in fact, waste from the dairy sector, which today is also aimed at reducing the number of animals and increasing productivity,” added Mr. Kostyuk.

The head of the Russian Consumer Union, Pyotr Shelishch, agreeing with the forecast of a rise in beef prices, called the rate of price growth “not prohibitive.” According to Rosstat data cited by Mr. Shelishch, since the beginning of 2023, beef has risen in price by 5.9%. At the same time, according to the expert, pork prices increased by 14.4%, and chicken by 29.7%.

Lusine Balasyan