Domestic tourism in Russia is developing rapidly. Each city and region strives to find its own unique product, stand out with it and tell about itself

Participants of the session “Development of the Territory’s Potential through a Gastroproduct” at the WorldFood HoReCa platform as part of the WorldFood Moscow 2024 business program discussed how a territory can be developed through a gastroproduct.

Alexander Zemchenko, founder of Violet Technology, spoke about the "Edge of the Earth" project, which began in 2021 with the purchase of 360 hectares of ancient apple orchards. More than 100 hectares of new orchards were planted in three years. Our own raw materials and the ability to produce a full cycle of production made it possible to produce 7 types of traditional and fruit cider, as well as jam, honey, tea, and juice.

Over the course of the project’s existence, an entire infrastructure has been built around the product:

// attracting tourists: tours of production, gardens, tastings;
// the first motor ship in the Republic of Mordovia - the motor ship "Edge of the Land": river cruises and tastings on deck;
// Weekend tours with visits to the region's iconic cultural sites.

In 2024, the first festival "Edge of the Land" was held, bringing together more than 700 people. The festival was timed to coincide with the first apple harvest.

Roman Vavilin, head of the FRiO representative office in Samara, founder and CEO of the management and consulting company Polyana, creator of the restaurant concepts Hokku, Nino, Patari and Carrie, presented the Volga Seasons gastro-festival project and told how it helped the city develop. Samara had long been a closed city, and the question was how to make it popular and introduce a wide range of people to local gastronomy.

The festival was launched 4 years ago in the format of "Russian Seasons". A striking feature of the festival were dishes - interpretations of Russian cuisine. Now the hits of Volga cuisine are gooseberry tart, pelmeni with pike and sterlet, vareniki with duck and cherry, pies with duck.

Since 2015, the gastronomic capital of Russia has been the city of Kazan. The region has very strong culinary traditions that developed in competition with Bashkiria. Unlike many regions, Tatarstan has managed to preserve its gastronomic identity.

Now, according to Nurislam Sharifulin, head of the FRiO Representative Office in Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan, a restaurateur specializing in chain restaurants, Tatar cuisine is going through a stage of gastronomization, more and more dishes of national cuisine appear on restaurant menus. Traditional cuisine is adapting to tourism, dishes are becoming less fatty, more familiar. The category of Tatar fast food is rapidly developing.

Since the registration of the "Gastronomic Capital" trademark, gastro festivals have begun to develop in the region. Currently, 4 festivals are held in Tatarstan, competitions are held, including international ones.

If you would like to receive a recording of this session, sign up for a free subscription to WorldFood Moscow and we will send you 6 emails with materials from this year's business program