Can time: salmon caviar production in Russia has fallen threefold
Production of natural red caviar in Russia in 2024 has decreased threefold - 10 thousand tons were produced, while in 2023 - 29 thousand tons. This "Izvestia" with reference to the data of FGIS "VetIS" was told in the National Center for the safety of aquatic fishing and aquaculture products. The reason for this situation is an unsuccessful poutine season. At the same time, as the regulator explains, in order to increase control over the illegal caviar market, from 2025 in Russia will launch a methodology to detect falsification.
Why caviar production in Russia has fallen sharply
The production of red caviar has decreased three times in Russia. According to the Federal State Information System in the field of veterinary medicine (FGIS "VetIS"), for 10 months of this year natural salmon caviar produced 10 thousand tons, while for the same period of 2023 this figure was 29 thousand tons. This was reported to "Izvestia" by the National Center for the Safety of Aquatic Fisheries and Aquaculture Products (FGBU "NCBFP").
At the same time, they also noted a reduction in the production of structured caviar, which is a caviar mass with the addition of complex food additives. For 10 months of this year its production amounted to 433 tons, which is 5.5% less than the same period last year (457 tons).
In addition, the output of imitated (artificial) red caviar decreased. It is made of seaweed, fish broth, special additives, sometimes with the addition of gelatin. During the same period it was produced - 544 tons instead of 718 tons a year earlier.
As pointed out in the National Center for the Safety of Aquatic Products and Aquaculture, the reason for the reduction in the production of natural red caviar was unsuccessful poutine. If in 2023 608 thousand tons of salmon species were harvested, in 2024 - only 230 thousand tons.
As for other types of caviar, the agency did not report the reasons for the decrease in production, but noted that the market share of structured and imitated caviar is less than 10%.
- In terms of nutritional and biological value, structured, imitated and natural caviar are different products. The first of them is actually not caviar, but caviar fish product, which is often not indicated on the package. In addition, in violation of the law, the word "structured", as a rule, printed in a smaller font than the word "caviar", - noted in the FGBU "NCBRP".
At the same time, they pointed out that sometimes producers give imitation or structured caviar as natural caviar, without indicating on the labeling that the jar is imitation.
- Imitated or structured caviar can be mixed into natural caviar, and the labeling indicates that it is "caviar and fish product", which allows an unscrupulous manufacturer to receive illegal income when selling it, - explained in the center.
At the same time, they pointed out that now they are finalizing the development of methods to determine the falsification of fish caviar.
- The results of the work demonstrate that microstructural properties of natural caviar shells are distinguishable from the shells of structured and imitated caviar. Full implementation of the methodology is expected in the first half of 2025, - said FGBU "NCBRP".
Earlier, the head of Rosselkhoznadzor Sergey Dankvert said that in Russia there is no official method of research, which allows to identify partial or complete substitution of natural caviar. According to him, the appearance of the method and strengthening of control was caused by the increase in the circulation of counterfeit products, namely the appearance of structured caviar on the market under the guise of natural red caviar.
Initially, it was planned to finalize the development of such a methodology next year.
"Izvestia sent a request to Rosselkhoznadzor to name the share of the illegal red caviar market.
How to understand that red caviar is real
The Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (CDPT, the operator of the state marking system "Honest Mark") did not tell Izvestia the exact percentage of falsified caviar. At the same time, they noted that the introduction of caviar labeling, which started in April this year, contributed to the whitening of the market.
- Initially, it was considered that there were 861 producers officially on the market. Over the past seven months of the system's operation, 71 more producers came out of the shadows. As a result, we managed to legalize more than 8% of market participants, who previously did not report their activities to the state," said Revaz Yusupov, deputy general director of the CRPT.
He also noted that not all unlabeled caviar is illegal. For example, if it was produced before May 1, 2024, it can be sold without a code until the expiration date.
Neither labeling nor any other regulatory decisions related to the production and traceability of food products affect the amount of fish in the rivers of the Far East, hence the volume of caviar production, German Zverev, president of the All-Russian Association of Fish Producers (VARPE), told Izvestia.
- Falsified products are falsified because they are not included in the official statistics, as the producers of such products are not interested in being "known" to the regulatory authorities. For a long time there was indeed a large number of poached, unaccounted products on the market. In recent years, many obstacles have been put up to prevent such caviar from entering the domestic market. The main ones are FGIS "Mercury", which ensures traceability, and restrictions for transportation of red caviar in hand luggage from Kamchatka. These measures are having an effect," explained the business representative.
At the same time, he said, it is too early to assess the impact of labeling.
- This is a tool that can rather help buyers to choose quality caviar from bona fide producers than solve the problem of falsification in principle," said German Zverev.
Oleg Pavlov, the head of the Public Council at Rospotrebnadzor, on the contrary, told Izvestia that after the introduction of digital labeling there is a tendency to reduce the number of violations in the production and sale of caviar.
- Consumers have simple and clear guidelines for choosing high-quality and safe products, and controlling authorities have tools to detect and suppress violations, which at the same time act as effective preventive measures," emphasized the public activist.
According to him, the labeling system is also applied when selling caviar by weight, the seller in this case must scan the code from the total package and indicate the weight sold to the consumer.
- If this does not happen, and you are sold jars of caviar on weight without scanning the code, then you should refuse to buy bulk caviar (as well as caviar from hand). Otherwise, the consumer risks encountering counterfeit (fake caviar), as well as low-quality and unsafe products," the expert emphasized.
Igor Karavaev, Chairman of the ACORT Presidium, told Izvestia that there are no problems with the supply of salmon caviar to retail chains, and the assortment includes at least five to seven types of products.
- The price dynamics on the market is primarily affected by the low results of the salmon fish poutine season. Demand for caviar is now stable, the high season of sales for this product falls in the cold season, and the peak of demand is in January and February," explained a representative of the business.
According to him, currently in the largest retail chains the lower threshold of the cost of red salmon caviar is below 6 thousand. rubles per 0.5 kg.
There is no need to fear a shortage of caviar for the holidays, as retail chains are developing the practice of concluding direct contracts with producers and forming increased stocks in advance before the holidays, as well as agreeing with suppliers on promotions during the high season, said Igor Karavaev.
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