Russia: Food Processing Ingredients
On August 7, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning a list of agricultural products from the United States, Canada, European Union, Australia, and Norway as a result of the implementation of economic sanctions against Russia due to events in the region. Lack of raw materials pushed the manufacturers to switch to alternative foreign suppliers or substitute the traditional ingredients by locally produced raw materials. The food processing sector has garnered special attention by the Russian Government which implements special supporting programs to improve the efficiency of enterprises, provide diversification of production and improve the competitiveness of manufactured products. In 2013, the industry’s output reached 4.18 trillion rubles ($131.36 billion) with 4.2 percent increase in number of businesses and 4.5 percent growth of food production value.
