Juices and Nectars (Russian market)

2022

8% decline in juice and nectar sales to 2.2 billion litres

In 2022, 2.2 billion liters of juices and nectar were sold in Russia, which is 8.1% less than a year earlier. Such data analysts BusinesStat released in December 2023.

Researchers attributed the fall in the juice market to higher prices. The average price of juices and nectar is the highest among all types of soft drinks, while it continues to grow annually, according to BusinesStat.

Juices and nectars are not essential products, so consumers are easier to refuse to buy them, analysts said. In the condition of a decrease in the cash income of Russians, juices in the consumer basket were replaced with nectars, and nectars, in turn, with cheaper drinks - carbonated water, kvass and juice-containing drinks. The decline in activity by the two largest producers of soft drinks in Russia also played a role.

In 2022, the PepsiCo group, which owns the Favorite, J7, Orchard and Me juice brands, as well as Coca-Cola, the owner of the Good, My Family and Rich brands, sharply reduced their marketing activity due to market uncertainty and sanctions. The sales of juices and nectars in 2022 were also negatively affected by problems with the purchase and delivery of concentrates for production, packaging and dyes.

According to experts, in 2023 the Russian juice market will return to growth. Manufacturers are adapting to new conditions, problems with packaging and dyes will be solved, new delivery routes for imported concentrates will be established. The introduction from July 2023 of an excise tax on sweet soft drinks in the amount of 7 rubles per liter of products will also have a positive effect. Juices and nectars do not fall under the excise tax, due to which the price gap between them and excisable drinks, which include carbonated drinks, will decrease, and part of soda buyers will be reoriented to juices and nectars^[1]

Decrease in concentrate sales by 0.8% to 236 thousand tons

In 2022, 236 thousand tons of juice concentrates were sold in Russia, which is 0.8% less than a year earlier. Market size began to decline after several years of growth. This is evidenced by the data of BusinessStat analysts, released in August 2023.

According to the researchers, the decrease in concentrate sales was the result of a decrease in the purchasing power of the population due to the crisis and, accordingly, the consumption of ready-made juices and nectar. In addition, the withdrawal from the Russian market of such giants as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, in addition to carbonated drinks, which also produce juices and nectars and are buyers of juice concentrates, also negatively affected sales.

Western sanctions became an additional negative factor for the market in 2022. The introduction of trade restrictions on Russia led to difficulties in the access of domestic companies to foreign raw materials, technologies, equipment, finance and markets, which negatively affected the volume of production of juice concentrates within the country. The sanctions also affected the ruble exchange rate, inflation, investment activity in Russia, which worsened the economic situation in the country and led to a decrease in demand for industrial juice concentrates.

As noted in the BusinessStat study, in the period 2018-2021. sales of industrial juice concentrates in Russia annually grew and increased over the period by 16.8%: from 204 to 238 thousand tons. The positive impact on the market during these years was caused by the revival of demand for finished juice products against the background of the restoration of the purchasing power of the population after the crisis of 2014-2016. Also, the expansion of the product line of juice concentrates, the emergence of new tastes and producers, analysts add.^[2]

See also

• Carbonated beverages (Russian market)
• Alcoholic beverages (Russian market)
• Export and import of alcoholic beverages in Russia
• Export of water and soft drinks from Russia

Notes