The WorldFood Connect community held a webinar where, together with industry experts, we discussed the results of 2024 in the Russian food industry and its development trends in 2025

The online meeting was opened by a speech by Svetlana Silenina, during which she spoke about the dynamics of the food industry, the investment activity of companies and their foreign economic activity, the food assortment and key trends in the industry.

Speaking about the dynamics of the food and beverage industry, the analyst noted its slowdown. According to the results of 2024, the growth of food production was 3.5%, beverages - 9.4%, and agricultural production decreased by 3.2%. The Russian food industry and agro-industrial complex market has great export potential. In addition, the substitution of foreign brands and the availability of a raw material base have a positive effect on the development of the industry. However, there are also a number of challenges that the industry has to face: a shortage of personnel, a decrease in the population, high dependence on imports and the high cost of borrowed funds.

As for public catering, in recent years it has been growing more dynamically than retail trade. In 2024, the growth of public catering in physical terms was 9%, food retail - 6%, and in monetary terms - 19.9% ​​and 14.9%, respectively.

The dynamics of exports of food products and agricultural raw materials slowed down slightly in 2024. For 10 months of 2024, it amounted to $35.2 billion, while for the same period in 2023 - $36 billion. Imports increased slightly. Svetlana Silenina emphasized that 90% of Russian exports go to friendly countries.

The expert paid special attention to trends in the food industry. Among the most relevant in 2024–2025 were:

• Brand substitution

• Healthy lifestyle products

• Products "without" (lactose, gluten, etc.)

• High protein foods

• Multi-flavor or multi-texture

• Portioning

• Entering new categories

• STM

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Also in 2025, the food industry will continue to consolidate, private labels in retail will be transformed, the number of exclusive brands will increase, the prepared food segment will grow, and the product portfolio for the HoReCa segment will expand.

The webinar was continued by Anastasia Sidorina, whose report was devoted to the transformation of the shopping basket through consumer trends. According to the expert, in 2024, the growth of consumer confidence increased by 5%, while in 2023 and 2022 there was a negative trend: -1% and -8%, respectively. This suggests that Russians have adapted to the current situation as much as possible.

Nevertheless, about 38% of people continue to experience stress. The top three ways to combat it include walking, spending time with loved ones, and delicious food. In addition, in the process of optimizing spending, Russian citizens demonstrate a low willingness to give up food products, in particular fruits, coffee, sweets, vitamins and dietary supplements, and baby food. On average, Russians' spending on a food basket in 2024 increased by 23%. The share of spending on Food FMCG among all spending in the wallet was 32%.

Among the categories that drive FMCG growth, Anastasia Sidorina singled out fresh meat and poultry, vegetables and fruits, drinks and beauty. In addition, the category "Ready-to-eat food" is actively growing in terms of sales. In 2024, its volume in monetary terms increased by 30%, and in kind - by 12%.

HoReCa is also strengthening its position. The share of this segment in the buyer's wallet from the entire FMCG Food category was 6%, and average monthly spending on HoReCa increased by 709 rubles.

In conclusion, the analyst emphasized that the key consumer values ​​that are already shaping tomorrow's market include the value of money and rational spending, the value of convenience, and pleasure.

At the end of the webinar, Alexandra Kivich presented the results of a large-scale joint study by the WorldFood Connect community and the INFOLine information and consulting agency, in which about 400 food and beverage manufacturers took part. According to the survey, the majority of respondents (34%) estimated their company's sales results in 2024 at +10-25%. The same proportion of respondents expect exactly the same growth of 10-25% in 2025.

Last year, the companies invested most in increasing capacity, introducing new brands and strengthening existing ones. In addition, a significant share of investments was directed to process optimization and personnel work, with the aim of increasing internal customer loyalty and subsequently increasing capacity and productivity.

The study also provides information on product exports and export geography, restrictions faced by manufacturers in the export direction, trends in product range renewal and development trends in the food industry, factors that have a positive impact on the current state of the market, and much more.