The son of the first vice-speaker of the State Duma, Pyotr Zhukov, became a co-owner of the beverage manufacturer Velle.

The market for plant-based analogues of dairy products, which resumed growth after the 2022 crisis, continues to interest investors. The founder of Indigo Capital Partners, Pyotr Zhukov, the son of First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Alexander Zhukov, became a co-owner of the manufacturer of plant-based drinks Velle. Market participants expect sales growth, and experts talk about the strong dependence of the category on solvent consumers.

The founder of the investment company Indigo Capital Partners Pyotr Zhukov, the son of the first vice-speaker of the State Duma Alexander Zhukov, became the owner of 34.96% of Velle Holding LLC, which manages the manufacturer of plant-based products Velle. Changes to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities were made in December 2023. More than 65% of Welle Holding is owned by Vladislav Romanovsky.

Velle was founded in 2004 by the creator of the Invite and Bystrov brands, Sergei Vykhodtsev. The production is located near St. Petersburg, the range includes analogues of milk, yoghurt, porridge, desserts, etc. In March 2020, Velle was transferred to the Cypriot Onyx Stone Holdings Ltd. And in July 2023, Mr. Romanovsky’s Velle Holding became the owner of Velle. As stated in Velle’s reporting, in 2023 the company planned to double revenue from 484.48 million rubles. for 2022. According to NielsenIQ estimates, in January-November 2023, the Velle brand was the seventh in sales of plant-based milk analogues in terms of money.

Indigo Capital Partners told Kommersant that the purchase of a stake in Velle fits into the strategy to increase its presence in the market for the production and distribution of products, especially in the healthy food segment. They added that they plan to include Velle in a holding with the Frutti company, which produces drinks under the BeTrue brand, and assets that are still in the acquisition stage. Petr Zhukov has owned 40% of Frutti since 2018. Another 35% of the company belongs to the owner of the Shokoladnitsa Group of Companies, Alexander Kolobov, and 25% to the former CEO of Velle, Arthur Sirakanyan.

Sales of plant-based dairy analogues rebounded in 2023 after declining 8.3% in volume terms in 2022, according to NielsenIQ. Last year, according to analysts, physical sales of the category grew by 23.3% year-on-year, cash sales by 10.7%, and in absolute terms the turnover exceeded the pre-crisis 2021 indicators. As stated in the Agroexport review, in 2022, sales of plant-based analogues of dairy products decreased to 50.9 thousand tons from 57 thousand tons a year earlier due to consumer savings and reduced imports. Danone, for example, suspended supplies of Alpro drinks, although production of these products continued in the Russian Federation. In October 2023, Health & Nutrition (H&N, formerly Danone Russia) announced the localization of these drinks in Russia under the Planto brand.

The head of brands in the “pleasure” category at H&N, Yulia Khaikina, notes that consumers are ready to try drinks under the new brand and H&N expects sales growth. According to her, in the Russian Federation the category of herbal drinks is just beginning to develop and has great potential for scaling. Marketing Director of the Efko Group of Companies (Hi!) brand Dmitry Filimoshkin points out that plant-based milk analogues are less and less perceived as specialized products. The company, according to him, sales in the category last year increased by more than 1.5 times and with the further development of distribution and assortment, the trend should continue. In Vkusville stores, the demand for such drinks has increased by about 30% in 2023, the chain said.

Walnut Capital Managing Partner Artem Motorny says that there is a trend towards growing consumption of plant-based alternatives to dairy products, but sales of such drinks depend on the preferences of the target group of consumers and the willingness of those to pay a premium relative to the cost of the traditional dairy category. As one of the founders of the Association of Manufacturers of Alternative Food Products, CEO and co-owner of Greenwise Artem Ponomarev notes, the development of the category in the Russian Federation is hampered by the lack of a clear regulatory framework, including codes, standards, etc., a strategy for the development of the industry of deep processing of raw materials, as well as protest dairy industry lobby.

Anatoly Kostyrev