Artem Belov: Covid year brought some benefits for milk and dairy producers

According to Belov, a number of factors contributed to stimulating demand. First, this is the closure of borders, which led to the fact that people stayed in their countries and made purchases there. This gave a certain increase in the consumption of milk and dairy products.

Artem Belov called the second factor a change in the structure of behavior due to the epidemic. 

‘Being at home, we began to consume more products used in cooking, more milk-intensive products - butter, sour cream, cheese used for sandwiches. Such a change in the structure of consumption in milk equivalent has led to the fact that the demand for milk and dairy products has increased,’ commented Artem Belov.

The expert noted that there was another important factor for the Russian market - state support. Thanks to it, the demand for dairy products, even among low-income citizens, has grown significantly.

‘About 400 billion rubles were allocated last year in the form of direct subsidies to families with children. This year, I think this amount will be even higher. A significant part of this money was spent on improving diets. Since milk traditionally occupies about 20% of the consumption structure, it was one of the key beneficiaries of this support,’ summed up Artem Belov.

Mikhail Mishchenko, General Director of Dairy Intelligence Agency, has repeatedly noted that the pandemic has had a positive impact on the development of the food and dairy industries.