In the first half of the year, the Group of companies Molvest exported more than 600 tons of dairy products

Negotiations are currently underway on the supply of dry milk ingredients to Singapore, Japan and the UAE.

The Group started exporting its products in 2020. ‘We have two export product lines – whole milk products, as well as dry milk ingredients, which we supply in the B2B segment to manufacturers of confectionery, sports nutrition, bakery products and animal feed,’ explained Anatoly Losev, CEO of the Group of companies Molvest, to Agroexport. The first deliveries of whole milk products (ultra-pasteurized cheeses, yoghurts, butter, cheeses, cream) were carried out in the third quarter of last year to five neighboring countries: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Uzbekistan. According to Losev, in some post-Soviet countries, trust in Russian products is higher than in local ones, and the consumer is ready to buy them, even despite the high cost.

Currently, export is one of the strategic directions of the company. ‘In terms of expanding exports, we are interested in the countries of the Middle East, as well as Southeast Asia. In particular, we are currently negotiating with China and Kyrgyzstan on the supply of our whole milk products,’ Losev said.

In the Chinese market, there is a request for whole milk products, milk powder products with long shelf life - from a year and above. For example, for butter, the shelf life should not be 2-3 months, as usual, but a year, for cream and milk - also at least a year. At the request of Chinese partners, Molvest introduced the technology and established the production of ultra-pasteurized milk for export, increasing the shelf life from six months to a year, and the shelf life of skimmed milk powder and whey protein concentrate from one to two years.

‘We are introducing technologies and selecting technological equipment that allow us to ensure long shelf life. At the start, we produced skimmed milk powder and whey protein concentrate with a shelf life of one year. Later, we carried out a range of studies, physico-chemical, microbiological, and established a shelf life of two years for skimmed milk powder and whey protein concentrate. Thus, we guarantee the quality of our products and their compliance not only with Russian, but also with international requirements,’ said Vera Samoilova, Quality Director of Molvest Group. 

The Group of companies Molvest is one of the leading dairy companies in Russia. The Group annually processes more than 500 thousand tons of milk, producing about 280 dairy products of eight brands: "Vkusnoteevo", "Molvest", Felicita, "Nezhny vozrast", "Fruate", "Ivan Poddubny", "Volzhskie prostory" and "Kubansky khutorok".

In the first half of 2021, the revenue of the Group of companies Molvest increased by 5.6% compared to the same period in 2020, to 14.5 billion rubles (excluding the agricultural sector). The volume of processing of raw materials increased by 7.5% and amounted to 272.7 thousand tons of milk. During this period such categories as yogurt (+5.3%), butter (+5%), cream (+8.2%) and cheese (+15.6%) showed the largest sales growth. The increase in sales is due to the release of new products and an increase in the efficiency of distribution channels, including the export direction.

According to the Federal Customs Service of Russia, shipments of dairy products abroad for 8 months of 2021 (data from the EAEU countries – 7 months) increased by 20.8% to 179 thousand tons. Export revenue increased by 29.3% to $285.7 million. Thus, 21 thousand tons of cheeses and cottage cheese (+26.8%) worth 71.4 million dollars (+33%) were sent to foreign markets. Deliveries of ice cream increased by 48.7% to $ 62.5 million (24.4 thousand tons), dairy products - by 10.8% to $ 56.5 million (53.7 thousand tons), whey - 2.2 times to $ 14.4 million (13.7 thousand tons), butter – by 13.5% to $ 10.3 million (2.7 thousand tons). The main buyers of Russian dairy products are still Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus.