Kerry anticipates five-year growth story in Russia

The Ireland-based ingredients firm has been active in Russia for several years, and has identified the market as one of potential high growth.

It works with local distributors, but has also recently set up a Russia Trading Office in Moscow, including an applications centre. A spokesperson told FoodNavigator.com, however: “Activities are not confined to Moscow and St Petersburg in that our customers do operate nationally”.​

Denis Svetlakov, marketing manager for Kerry in Russia, said that the Russian market has increased with demand for food and drink products that are tasty, convenient and geared towards healthier consumption.

The company will be taking part in Food Ingredients Russia in Moscow later this month; there, it will be introducing new concepts across a broad base of food categories.

These include healthier Madeleine cakes which use dairy ingredients to give a buttery flavour, are trans fat and hydrogenated fat free, and use its Myvatex emulsifier to provide an acceptable texture.

It is also presenting cheese crackers that combine real cheese with yeast extracts that boast 30 per cent less fat, reduced fermentation time, and lower costs.

In the convenience category, it will be showing a mushroom soup suited to Russian tastes – but with is low fat, low in salt, and can boast a clean label.

Other showcased concepts fall into the confectionery, dairy and beverage segments.

Although publicly-traded Kerry Group did not give a breakdown of its sales from Russia in its 2007 annual report, ingredients and flavours did bring in some 63 per cent of the total revenue for the group last year – some €3.31bn.

Sixty-four per cent of overall group revenue was said to have come from Europe, 27 per cent from the Americas, and 9 per cent from Asia Pacific.