Alphabet of Taste

The alphabet of taste unites more than 170 stores of various formats in Moscow, the Moscow Region and St. Petersburg, the av.ru online store and the AB Express Menu ready-made food delivery service. The retailer also owns culinary production and its own economy in the Kaluga region.

Performance indicators

2023

Net profit - 812 million rubles

In 2023, Azbuka Vkusa's revenue amounted to 86.3 billion rubles, an increase of 77.84 billion rubles compared to a year ago. The retailer's net profit in 2023 reached 812 million rubles, then in 2022 its net losses were measured at 952.9 million rubles. Such data on RAS LLC "City Supermarket" (the operating company "Azbuki Vkusa") was disclosed in early April 2024.

According to the Interfax agency, in 2023 the cost of sales of the City Supermarket amounted to 49.05 billion rubles, which is 15.7% more than a year earlier. Gross profit during this time increased by 5.1%, to 37.25 billion rubles. Commercial expenses in 2023 remained at the level of 2022 - about 30.4 billion rubles.

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The press service of Azbuka Vkusa, summing up the results of 2023, noted that during this reporting period the retailer focused on developing the client base and expanding the target audience. In 2023, the total number of checks in chain stores increased by 10.9%, the company reached the highest growth in LFL turnover in November + 26.5%, the highest growth in LFL traffic was recorded in September + 19.8%.

The share of Azbuka Vkusa customers in 2023 with loyalty cards in the network's turnover increased by 0.5 percentage points compared to 2022 and amounted to 78.7%. Significant growth was recorded in the segment of so-called repertoire customers (+ 7.2%) - this is the category of consumers who come for ready-made food, coffee and desserts and gifts. The most popular categories are ready-to-eat, dairy, vegetables, fruits, drinks, groceries, alcohol and gift solutions.

According to the Kontur.Fokus service, by April 2024, City Supermarket LLC is 99% owned by the Cypriot company Demanor Investments, another 1% is owned by Azbuka Vkusa LLC^[1]

Online sales growth of 34%

The ABC of Taste increased online sales for 2023 by 34% compared to 2022. The retailer announced this in mid-February 2024.

According to Azbuki Vkusa's own data, in 2023 the company delivered more than 4 million orders issued via the Internet. E-commerce accounted for 12.6% of the retailer's annual turnover, up 2.2 percentage points from a year earlier. In the fourth quarter of 2023, this share was even higher - 13.2%.

source = Alphabet of Taste

The ABC of Taste does not disclose the volume of online sales for 2023 and only named the amount for December of that year - 1.6 billion rubles. This figure was 60% higher than in December 2022.

The ABC of Taste announced an increase in the popularity of delivery of finished food of its own production - this segment accounted for about 19.7% of the chain's online sales in 2023. Among the most popular categories of goods delivered in orders via the Internet, the company noted vegetables and fruits (12%), dairy products (9.5%), drinks (7.6%) and groceries (6.6%).

It also follows from the retailer's message that in 2023 Azbuka Vkusa also actively developed its B2B direction. More than 50 new projects were launched. The company opened the first minimum market for a franchise at gas stations Lukoil"," as well as 20 outlets at gas stations Gazpromneft"" and Rosneft"." In addition, ABC of Taste continues to develop cooperation with HoReCa. More than 20 restaurants and cafes To Moscow St. Petersburg in and offer products and alcohol of the company's own imports.

In 2023, the share of own production amounted to 33% of the total turnover compared to 27% a year earlier. The company, as noted by its press service, focused on expanding the line of ready-made culinary products, semi-finished products and the line for conscious nutrition "ABC life."^[2]

Company history

2024

Transfer to Russian jurisdiction

At the end of May 2024, the Azbuka Vkusa supermarket chain came under Russian jurisdiction, 99% of the retailer became owned by City Supermarket LLC, the management company under whose control the chain's stores are located. The remaining 1% remained with Azbuka Vkusa LLC. Until that moment, the majority owner was the Cypriot company Demanor Investments Ltd.

According to Kommersant, the transition was preceded by a trial initiated in April 2024 by network president Denis Sologub. The Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region suspended the corporate rights of Demanor Investments in relation to the ABC of Taste. Subsequently, the Cypriot company and City Supermarket LLC came to an amicable agreement, which, apparently, led to the final transfer of business to the Russian management company.

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Freepik

Representatives of Azbuka Vkusa confirmed that the change in the composition of the founders is a direct consequence of the decision of the arbitration court that came into force and will not affect the operating activities of the company in any way. Being an economically significant organization, the network received the right to a simplified procedure for transferring shares to Russian owners.

Lawyers for the retail chain believe that this step will allow Azbuka Vkusa to ensure uninterrupted operation and avoid potential risks associated with blocking corporate governance abroad. In addition, the transfer of assets to a Russian company serves as a kind of protection of business from the possible nationalization of the holding structure in Cyprus, although this scenario is considered unlikely.

According to Kommersant, the Azbuka Vkusa supermarket chain is one of the largest retail chains in Russia, which by May 2024 has 103 Azbuka Vkusa supermarkets, 59 Azbuka Daily convenience stores, 5 hypermarkets, 3 enotecs and cafes.^[3]

Change of ownership

On April 8, 2024, it became known that billionaires Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov agreed to withdraw from the capital of the ABC Vkusa grocery chain. At the same time, Bavero Group JSC, registered in the Perm Territory in 2023, becomes the new shareholder and investor of the company.

As noted on the ABC Vkusa website, as of the specified date, the chairman of the board of directors of the company Maxim Koshcheenko owns 25.7% of the network. Another 17.2% is at the disposal of Oleg Lytkin, 3.1% is with management. A share of 39.6%, previously owned by the consortium of Invest AG and MillhouseRoman Abramovich, is owned by Russian investment funds. The remaining 14.4% falls on the category "other."

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Azbuka Vkusa emphasizes that changes in the structure of shareholders will not affect the operating activities of the company. The network continues to develop strategic directions: this is the production of ready-made food and roasting coffee in its own workshop, B2B projects, its own import of products and alcohol. In 2023, the company made a focus on expanding its target audience and revising pricing policies.

We thank the investors who have been with the company since 2015 and provided us with comprehensive support in developing the business. During this time, Azbuka Vkusa's revenue has more than 2 times increased, and the share of the online direction has reached 12.6% in the total turnover, says Koshcheenko.

The head of Infoline-Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov, believes that at the time of the change of owners, the cost of the Azbuka Vkusa business may be about 35 billion rubles. The company operates a retail network of 168 stores with a total retail area of ​ ​ 100 thousand square meters in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 2024, it is planned to open two more stores in the capital.^[4]

2021

Unsuccessful negotiations with Yandex on the sale of the company

The purpose of the transaction was to synergize the supermarket chain with Yandex.Lovkoy. It was also supposed to allow Yandex's food tech service to increase the direction of ready-made food, which is actively developing the ABC of Taste. In August 2021, it became known that the deal on the acquisition by Yandex of the ABC of Taste grocery chain, which became known in June, fell through. The Internet company withdrew from negotiations.

Opening of a regional development office in Samara

On February 9, 2021, the ABC of Taste announced the opening of its regional development office in Samara. This is the first regional office of the retail network outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The newly opened IT division of the Digital Product Development Department will specialize in mobile and web development and engage in partner integrations.

"The Moscow labor market in the IT segment has overheated a lot over the past few years, while there are many talented and promising specialists outside the capital. The idea of ​ ​ opening a regional office appeared in the company at the beginning of last year, but then the coronavirus pandemic temporarily froze this project. We have finally opened an office, and our plans are to make it a full-fledged center of expertise, entirely consisting of Samara IT specialists, "said Andrei Popkov, vice president of information technology at ABC of Taste.

To choose a city, the company conducted a multifactorial study and analyzed about 50 Russian cities. In particular, the ABC of Taste drew attention to the level of training of IT specialists in universities, the presence of other companies in the region, and the geographical distance from Moscow.

In the Samara office there is an active set of - and iOS Android- developers, PHP- developers and. programmers Java

2020

Investment in Biolink Tech

On September 11, 2020, ABC of Taste announced its investment in Biolink Tech. As part of the deal, the companies will jointly develop a food personalization system in Russia based on blood tests with the ability to buy and deliver Otri products. Read more here.

Launch Vulnerability Scanning Rewards Program in IT Services

On March 12, 2020, ABC Vkusa announced to TAdviser the launch of the bug bounty program, within which it plans to pay participants a total of more than 1.5 million rubles for the first year as a reward for vulnerabilities found on its website and in applications. Participants will be able to choose the form of remuneration themselves: a cash payment in rubles or 1.5 times a large amount in kind, that is, products and goods presented in the retail network.

"Alphabet of Taste"

The company will pay for information about critical errors in the main and mobile versions of the av.ru site, as well as in all services located on domain names av.ru subdomains, azbukavkusa.ru and subdomains.

Detailed terms and estimated remuneration depending on the classification of vulnerabilities are indicated in the offer:

• remote code execution (RCE): from 50,000 rubles or products totaling from 75,000 rubles;
• file manipulation, read/write (LFR, RFI, XXE): from 50,000 rubles or products totaling from 75,000 rubles;
• injections (SQLi or equivalent): from 25,000 rubles or products totaling from 37,500 rubles;
• cross-site scripting (XSS), except for self-XSS: from 5,000 rubles or products totaling from 7,500 rubles;
• cross-site spoofing of requests (CSRF, Flash crossdomain requests): from 5,000 rubles or products totaling from 7,500 rubles.

The maximum amount of one payment is not limited and depends on the importance of the vulnerability found. The payment of remuneration will take up to 20 working days from the moment of confirmation of the vulnerability by the company's employees.

To receive a reward for the discovered vulnerability, you need to send a report about it to the bug@azbukavkusa.ru address with the subject line: "Report on the Vulnerability Reward Program." The report should contain a detailed description of the discovered vulnerability: vulnerable nodes and components, the discovered vulnerability and its impact on security, the stages of playback, the attack scenario, as well as recommendations for elimination.

For banks and IT companies, such programs are a common practice, since their level of training in the field of information security is much higher. However, given the widespread digitalization, information security is increasingly not tied to areas of activity, and there is also a need for such initiatives for food retail. We will be pleased to invite IT professionals to participate in our program and will be grateful for their help in finding the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of our systems, said Dmitry Kuzevanov, head of the information security department of Azbuki Vkusa

2019: Denis Sologub appointed President of the company

On March 20, 2019, it was announced that Denis Sologub was appointed president of Azbuka Vkusa, he replaced Vadim Dolgov in this position, who decided to go to work in another company.

2014: TAdviser interview with ABC of Taste Chief information officer Yegor Lanko

In September 2014, the Chief information officer of the company Egor Lanko gave. interview TAdviser

Notes