Utensils (Russian market)

2023: 10.4% increase in biodegradable disposable cookware sales to 2.1 billion units

In 2023, the volume of consumption of disposable biodegradable dishes in Russia in physical terms reached 2.1 billion units of products. This is 10.4% more than the previous year, as stated in the NeoAnalytics review published on May 21, 2024.

It is noted that the trend in the consumption of environmentally friendly products influenced, among other things, the sphere of disposable dishes. The main drivers of the market are catering establishments. Every year there are more and more companies that are abandoning plastic in favor of environmentally friendly products. In Russia, as of 2024, the range of biodegradable dishes and packaging is represented primarily by products made of paper and cardboard from insoluble cellulose. Such products account for 97% -98% of the market. The volume of production from other plant materials, such as industrial hemp and miscanthus, for example, is small.

NeoAnalytics

The study says that the import of disposable biodegradable dishes to Russia in 2023 in physical terms was recorded at just over 2 thousand tons. This is 10.5% more compared to 2022, when purchases were estimated at 1.9 thousand tons. Retrospective analysis shows that since 2014, the volume of imports has gradually decreased, although an increase was noted in 2019. Due to the fact that the price factor plays an important role in choosing products, imported products gradually become uncompetitive due to the rise in price. Thanks to this, the share of domestic production in 2023 amounted to 95%.

In terms of exporting disposable biodegradable dishes, Russia's potential is small. Chinese manufacturers are firmly in the global market, supplying huge volumes at very low prices. Therefore, almost all manufactured products are consumed domestically.^[1]

2022: Decrease in porcelain sales growth by 9.1% to 126.5 million units

The volume of the Russian china ware market in 2022 decreased by 9.1% (to 126.5 million units) compared to the previous year, when sales of these products increased by 25.2%. This is evidenced by the data of the analytical company BusinesStat, released in November 2023.

According to the researchers, the beginning of the military special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions had a less significant impact on the dishes market than a number of experts expected. Despite a significant increase in prices, the decline in sales was not so strong. The unfavorable economic situation led to a decrease in promotional activity on the part of manufacturers and distributors, and this had a serious impact on sales, since in recent years the habit of purchasing products under the promotion with serious discounts from consumers has already taken root in the utensils market.

BusinesStat notes that the porcelain utensils market is influenced by a number of negative factors, including the loss of unique recipes for making products, filling the market with low-quality porcelain utensils, and a decrease in household income and purchasing power. In a crisis, consumer preferences are shifting from porcelain to cheaper ceramic and glassware. At the same time, the development of online commerce can be attributed to positive factors affecting the sale of porcelain dishes.

In 2020, when offline stores were closed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, a rapid increase in online sales was recorded. In 2022, the share of online trading in the total retail of the utensils market as a whole exceeded 10%, since the largest players increased their turnover faster than other, smaller projects, and together with online stores of federal chains, they concentrated over half of online utensils sales, the study adds.^[2]

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