Yoghurts are losing concentration – Newspaper Kommersant No. 7 (7452) of 17.01.

Yogurt producers, whose output fell by 16% in the three quarters of 2022 due to lower demand, face new challenges. Market participants fear a shortage of food-grade modified starches, which are used as thickeners. The supply of ingredients from the EU has stopped due to sanctions against the Russian Federation, and domestic production is constrained by a shortage of raw materials. So far, such problems have been solved, but due to changes in recipes and rising costs, experts say.

The risks of a shortage of modified corn starches used as thickeners, including for the production of puddings and yogurts, were told by a Kommersant source among dairy producers. According to him, these ingredients were mainly imported from Western countries, but supplies from the EU stopped in 2022 due to sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with military operations in Ukraine. According to a Kommersant source, the situation threatens to reduce the production of desserts and yogurts, since Russia does not produce enough such starches, and it is difficult to find replacements in other countries.

Another Kommersant source in the industry notes that the problem is more acute for certain categories, and for most products it is possible to find alternative ingredients. According to another interlocutor of Kommersant on the market, instead of modified corn starches, milk powder can be used as a thickener. But it’s a commodity, so the cost of producing yogurt is higher, he points out. Large yogurt producers Danone (brands Activia, Danissimo), PepsiCo (Miracle), Ehrmann (Epica, Fruttis) did not provide comments.

Oleg Radin, president of the Association of Deep Grain Processing Enterprises (Soyuzkrakhmal), says that in 2021, about 71,000 tons of modified food starches were imported to Russia, and about 9,000 tons were produced. According to him, two factories with a total capacity of about 50,000 tons per year produce such ingredients in the Russian Federation, but it is difficult to fully load the sites due to a lack of raw materials. Food modifications of starch are produced from special waxy varieties of corn, which must be grown in separate fields, and the modification also requires acetaldehyde, which is produced limitedly by one state-owned enterprise, Mr. Radin says.

Viola says it started looking for alternative suppliers in all directions in early spring 2022 and switched to local corn starch, and also approved several manufacturers from Asian countries. In addition, there is the possibility of parallel import of the ingredient from some European manufacturers, although this method is associated with a number of risks, says a Viola representative. According to him, some other ingredients remain at risk, but there are enough stocks, and solutions are being developed with local manufacturers. Efko Group of Companies says that the Food of the Future division has found an alternative to starch from the EU and produces thick vegetable yoghurts as usual with a supply of raw materials for more than six months in advance.

According to Kommersant’s interlocutor in the dairy market, in order to remove the risks of a shortage of food starches, it is necessary to simplify the issuance of import permits for the import of seeds, which will increase the production of corn of the desired varieties. Oleg Radin adds that in a number of regions of the Russian Federation it is planned to commission new facilities for the production of various modified starches with an E index of up to 45 thousand tons per year.

According to the National Union of Dairy Producers and Milknews, in January-September 2022, the production of yogurts decreased by 16%, to 534 thousand tons year-on-year. Alexei Gruzdev, CEO of Streda Consulting, connects the dynamics with the desire of consumers to save money, noting that yogurt is not an essential product and is relatively expensive. According to him, more than 70% of this market in the Russian Federation is accounted for by five players, including PepsiCo and Danone, which are primarily affected by the category reduction. According to Mr. Gruzdev, the dairy industry as a whole has adapted to the difficulties with the availability of a number of ingredients, although some companies have been forced to change recipes, urgently test new suppliers and faced rising costs.

Anatoly Kostyrev