The main producers of tomatoes in the world. Overview of the tomato market in Russia. The resumption of supplies of tomatoes from Turkey will lead to a redistribution of the shares of other countries

This page contains a list of manufacturers and wholesale suppliers Russian Federation selling tomatoes (tomatoes) in bulk. In addition to describing companies and their contact information, you can see working conditions, products, photo galleries, price lists, catalogs and much more.

  • Provider

    "Art-Food" electronic trading floor Mosprodtorg company. Reliable food supplier for cafes, restaurants, bars and other businesses. The company has been operating in the food supply market since 1996 and during this time has earned the trust of the largest companies. The range has everything that is necessary for the enterprise Catering: spices, seasonings, spices, baking ingredients, mayonnaises, marinades, sauces, portioned sauces, oil and fat products, soft drinks, juices, water, beer, kvass, snacks, frozen semi-finished products, sausages, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, coffee, tea, groceries, confectionery, canned food, semi-finished products, dairy products, nuts, dried fruits and other products. ...

  • Provider

    El Kadi is one of the leading Egyptian companies in the export of fresh fruits and vegetables. El Kadi is based in Alexandria, Egypt. All year round, it provides a full range of fruit and vegetable supplies to its customers: importers, wholesalers, supermarket chains, catering and processing industries. Elkadi is represented in Russia by AGRONA, headquartered in Novorossiysk. Agrona will help guide customers in Russia on issues such as customs clearance documents, delivery on the territory of Russia and other issues. El Cadi Provides comprehensive service their clients around the world. We operate in over 50 countries with a careful consideration of seasonality. ...

  • Provider

    You can order buy buy buy vegetables wholesale small wholesale retail tomatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers in the ProdoMIR company in Moscow and regions of Russia from the manufacturer with delivery. The ProdoMIR company grows tomatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes of various varieties in greenhouses in greenhouses on closed ground and offers customers low prices your products. The ProdoMIR company grows young potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, garlic, lettuce, tomato, tomato, beetroot and sells small wholesale from the warehouse. We work around the clock without days off. ...

  • Provider

    Agrosoyuz Romanovsky supplies fruits and vegetables in bulk from the manufacturer: watermelons, carrots, zucchini, peppers and other crops. Delivery of vegetables from the Krasnodar Territory to the customer's warehouses. Vegetable bases and trading networks - large discounts. ...

  • Provider

    Treatment land plot for growing crops such as cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, cabbage, eggplant, greens in stock. Farming LLC "Petrobars-m" offers wholesale vegetables: tomatoes, cabbage, eggplant, assorted greens, corn, cucumbers, zucchini. Payment cash and b / n calculation. Delivery or pickup from the Fields. ...

  • Provider

    Wholesale deliveries of fruits and vegetables from Egypt. Delivery by sea to the port of Novorossiysk and by plane to Moscow. Delivery to your warehouse is possible. Guarantee the best price. Large selection of products. Full decoration. Customs clearance services. Acceptance of cash and non-cash payments. Partners in Russia who will help on all issues. ...

  • Provider

    Meva LLC is the official representative of CJSC Agrofirma Oldeevskaya ( wholesale supply cucumbers and tomatoes), as well as the official representative of EFKO Group (wholesale supply sunflower oil Altero, Sloboda). We work throughout the Russian Federation and the CIS. Advantages of work: 1. All products are of high quality; 2. Availability of all product quality certificates; 3. Individual approach to each customer; 4. Work directly with the largest industries; 5. Strict observance of terms and conditions of delivery. ...

  • Provider

    TPK "Agrokultura" is a greenhouse complex for growing vegetables using the latest European technologies. TPK "Agrokultura" was founded in 2003 and is the largest greenhouse facility in the Omsk region. The range of products: cucumber, tomatoes, green crops: various salads, basil, celery, tarragon, lemon balm, mint, dill, parsley. In the greenhouses of TPK "Agrokultura" the latest Dutch and domestic equipment for growing lettuce and cucumber was installed, all commissioning work was carried out under the control foreign specialists. Thanks to the introduction of light culture technology, drip irrigation and automatic microclimate control, the use of additional lighting, production has become year-round. The new greenhouses contain all the advanced technologies that make it possible to obtain a harvest sufficient to provide the inhabitants of the Omsk Region with fresh and environmentally friendly vegetables all year round. Today TPK "Agrokultura" is a stable company, increasing...

  • Provider

    Dear clients and partners! Thank you for your trust in our company and thank you for your cooperation. Our company has been operating in the market for 13 years. The main direction is wholesale and retail trade food products in the HoReCa segment in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. We offer our customers comprehensive solutions in the field of food supply. Our goal is to become a leader in the food market of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region in the HoReCa segment. The main task that we set ourselves is to identify your business needs (values) and provide you with effective solutions based on the following principles: 1. Transparency. 2. Professionalism. 3. Individual approach to each client. 4. Honesty and decency. 5. Development and improvement. Our success depends on your well-being and prosperity. We invite you to mutually beneficial cooperation. In our person you will find a reliable partner capable of coping with the task of any complexity. We guarantee...

  • Provider

    Stroy-Image LLC is a dynamically developing group of companies that has significantly expanded the list of services provided. Our main activities: Construction of residential and commercial buildings and structures. Construction of engineering communications. Sale of building materials. Sale of materials for engineering communications. Sale of food and non-food products. To provide such a wide range of services, you need to master advanced technologies. We managed to assemble a team of professionals, true masters in their field. Possessing vast experience, each of them is able to complete the outlined scope of work in a short time and of proper quality. We are ready to provide our customers with reliable guarantees. All obligations on the part of the Contractor are prescribed in the contract and are strictly observed. By contacting Stroy-Image LLC, you can count on impeccable service, individual approach and quality of services comparable to the level of...

Tomatoes are the most popular and ubiquitous vegetable crops in the world. The volumes of their production and consumption are gradually growing: over the past 30 years, the world tomato market has tripled. Today, the volume of the world market of tomatoes is more than 160 million tons.

The fresh tomato market in Russia differs from the markets of other types of fresh vegetables both in terms of volume, structure, dynamics, demand, and variety of assortment. Until 2015, several times more tomatoes were supplied from abroad than were collected in domestic greenhouses, and 2 times more than were grown in open ground by all commercial producers. At the end of 2018, thanks to the growth of domestic production and a decrease in imports, every third tomato was already grown in Russian greenhouses.

St. Petersburg is the largest consumer agglomeration of fresh tomatoes among all regions of Russia, a competitive market in the fresh tomato segment. The high demand of the multi-million population and healthy eating trends contribute to the formation huge volumes deliveries of fresh tomatoes to the city from abroad and from other regions of the country.

Properties and value of tomatoes

The mountainous regions of Peru and Ecuador are considered to be the birthplace of tomatoes, where they were cultivated by the ancient Aztecs and Incas as early as the beginning of the 8th century AD. In the middle of the 16th century, tomatoes first came to Portugal and Spain, and from there spread throughout Europe. In Russia, they learned about tomatoes in the 18th century, but for almost 100 years they were used only as an ornamental plant.

The long history of penetration of tomatoes into the European market has contributed to giving this wonderful culture especially romantic names. The Italians called them "golden apples", the Germans - "paradise apples", and the French - "love apples", believing that they have aphrodisiac properties.

The special biological value of tomatoes is universally recognized. They include sugars (mainly fructose and glucose), mineral salts: iodine, potassium, phosphorus, boron, magnesium, sodium, manganese, calcium, iron, copper, zinc. Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A, B, B2, B6, C, E, K, PP and beta-carotene. The percentage of these vitamins is directly dependent on the ripeness of the tomatoes.

The composition of the tomato includes a powerful antioxidant - lycopene - a component due to which the tomato acquires a red color. This microelement has properties similar to beta-carotene, it is a unique natural medicine for many diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This flavonoid stimulates the formation of bone tissue.

World market of tomatoes

Tomatoes are among the most consumed vegetables in the world. Thanks to the modernization of the technologies and materials used, the volume of tomato consumption has increased significantly in recent decades. The total area of ​​tomato plantations worldwide is 5 million hectares. On average, productivity per 1 sq. m is 3.7 kg.

China is the largest producer of tomatoes in the world. It produces more than 30% of all tomatoes in the world (56.3 out of 177 million tons) and is ahead of India, the second largest producer in the world, by almost 3 times. Tomatoes are one of the most important crops in Morocco and Turkey, having previously had experience importing tomatoes from Turkish Cyprus, Romania and Ukraine.

About 75% of tomato production comes from Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and France. About 94% of tomatoes in Italy, Spain and Portugal are sent for processing. Thanks to the introduction of new varieties, especially in the segment of snack and cocktail tomatoes, the average selling price of these fruits increased by 20% in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. On average, Europeans consume annually 15 kg of tomatoes per person. In 2030, consumption is estimated to be 14.4 kg per year per person.

In the US, there is currently a large volume of products on the market. The market is dominated by domestic tomato production from Florida and Texas, as well as imports from Mexico. Mexico (1,612 thousand tons) remains the main supplier of tomatoes to the United States, accounting for 90% of total imports. Canada (165 thousand tons) is significantly behind Mexico in terms of imports with a share of 9%. Also, some insignificant shipments of tomatoes come from the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. The U.S. tomato market is projected to reach 16.4 million tonnes by 2025.

In Russia, most of its own production is the cultivation of tomatoes in the open field. The gross harvest of open ground tomatoes is more than 80%, while that of protected ground tomatoes is less than 20%. As a result of this, on Russian market imports play a significant role. Tomatoes are imported to Russia from Turkey, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Israel and Egypt.

Now the cultivation of greenhouse vegetables in Russia is growing steadily. Last year, about 150 hectares of high-tech greenhouses were launched.

Growth in tomato consumption

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAOSTAT), in terms of cultivation area, tomato ranks first among vegetable crops in the world - a total of about 4 million hectares have been allocated for it. At the same time, 60% of the entire area belongs to protected ground: glass, film greenhouses, off-season greenhouses and shelters.

The sharp increase in consumer interest in tomato culture has led to increased work of breeders: now there are already at least 10,000 varieties of tomatoes in the world. The smallest tomato is less than 2 centimeters in diameter, while the largest reaches a weight of almost 1.5 kilograms.

There are hundreds of types of tomatoes - small cherry tomatoes the size of grapes, huge Bull's Heart tomatoes weighing 600-800 grams, juicy for salads and meaty for pasta, campari and "cream". The color of the fruit, in addition to red, can vary from white, orange, yellow, green to purple and even black.

New varieties of tomatoes differ not only in taste and fruit size, but also in the shape of the bush. These are the usual bush tomatoes, up to 2 meters high, tomatoes. And ampelous - with drooping shoots and medium-sized fruits, and dwarf - up to 40-45 cm in height. The taste of dwarf and ampelous tomatoes is in no way inferior to the usual bush ones.

Gourmets and lovers of exquisite taste may be interested in unusual varieties of tomatoes that have a color close to black. These are ordinary varieties created by classical breeding by crossing wild and red-fruited tomatoes. The first of them were created by Soviet scientists in the middle of the last century.

The color of these tomatoes varies from purple-brown to chocolate, due to the presence of anthocyanin pigments, quite common among vegetables. They can be found in purple eggplants, beets, red cabbage, and many other fruits.


* Calculations use average data for Russia

The Russian tomato market is characterized by a low level of self-sufficiency. Own production for the most part represents the cultivation of tomatoes in open ground. The gross harvest of open ground tomatoes is more than 80%, while that of protected ground tomatoes is less than 20%. At the moment, domestic agricultural producers cannot provide the country with greenhouse products in the off-season, meeting the needs of the population by only a quarter. As a result, in the Russian market, despite the measures taken for import substitution, imports play a significant role.

SOWING AREA

Rosstat statistics show that in the period from 2005 to 2015. sown areas for growing tomatoes in open ground in Russia in all types of farms remain approximately at the same level and, according to the latest data, amount to 119 thousand hectares. The exception was 2007, when 104,000 hectares fell on tomato crops. The decrease in the number of sown areas is most noticeable in comparison with the indicators of 15 years ago, when about 141 thousand hectares were used for growing tomatoes.

Figure 1. Cultivation area for tomatoes in open ground in Russia, 1997-2015, thousand ha

Source: Rosstat

The main share of sown areas for open ground tomatoes in Russia (more than 86%) falls on the non-commodity sector, i.e. tomatoes grown by the population for personal consumption. The joint share of agricultural organizations, peasant farms and individual entrepreneurs is only 14%. The area of ​​the industrial sector has decreased by 5 thousand hectares since 2011 (-24%), since 2001 - by 11 thousand hectares (-46%).

Figure 2. Cultivation area for open ground tomatoes in Russia by types of farms, 1997-2015, thousand ha

Source: Rosstat

Russia occupies the 8th place in the world in terms of sown areas for tomatoes. Most of the territory for these purposes is involved in China, India and Nigeria - the area there is 1001 thousand hectares, 882 thousand hectares and 541.8 thousand hectares, respectively. They are followed by: one of the main suppliers of greenhouse tomatoes to Russia, Turkey (319.1 thousand ha), Egypt (214 thousand ha), USA (163.4 thousand ha) and Iran (159.1 thousand ha) .

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Figure 3. Leading countries in terms of the number of sown areas for tomatoes, 2014, thousand ha

Source: FAO

COLLECTIONS OF TOMATOES IN OPEN AND INCLUDED GROUND

Against the backdrop of others major countries world, the volume of tomato harvests in Russia, for various reasons, is not so large. China is the world leader in tomato harvesting. According to the latest FAO data, almost 53 million tons are collected in this country annually. The leaders also include India (18.7 million tons), USA (14.5 million tons), Turkey (11.8 million tons) and Egypt (8.3 million tons).

Figure 4. Leading countries in terms of harvesting tomatoes (2014), thousand tons

Source: FAO

The gross harvest of tomatoes in Russia is 2839 thousand tons, of which 2282 thousand tons fall on the harvest of open ground tomatoes (80.4%), 557 thousand tons (19.6%) - on the harvest of open ground tomatoes. Compared to 2014, the gross harvest of tomatoes in Russia increased by 20 thousand tons (+0.7%), compared to five years ago - by 401 thousand tons (+16.4%).

Figure 5. Gross harvest of tomatoes in open and protected ground in Russia, 2011-2015, thousand tons

Source: Rosstat

The highest growth rates are observed in the collections of greenhouse tomatoes. Thus, relative to 2014, the increase was 7.3%, and relative to 2011 - 135%. That is, in five years, the production of greenhouse tomatoes in the country has more than doubled. However, most of the crops of greenhouse tomatoes in the country (60%) still fall on the crops of the population. For the share of agricultural organizations and farms remains 223 thousand tons or 40% of the total production of greenhouse tomatoes.

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Despite the decrease in the volume of sown areas, in Russia there is also a tendency to increase the gross harvest of open ground tomatoes. Since 2011, the harvest of tomatoes in all types of farms has increased by 81 thousand tons (+3.7%), since 2006 - by 355 thousand tons (+18.4%), since 2001 - by 568 thousand tons ( +33.1%. As for the commodity sector, growth is also recorded here, while its pace is more significant - since 2011, gross collections have increased by 5.2%, since 2006 - by 20.8%, since 2001 - (+ 66.3% ). Experts attribute the increase in yields primarily to the introduction of drip irrigation technology in the cultivation of tomatoes.

Figure 6. Gross harvest of open field tomatoes in Russia, 1997-2015, thousand tons

Source: Rosstat

Figure 7. Gross harvest of open ground tomatoes in Russia by types of farms, 1997-2015, thousand tons

Source: Rosstat

CONSUMPTION OF TOMATOES

In 2015, tomato consumption in Russia decreased by 4.7% compared to 2014. The main reasons for this can be called a decrease in the income of the population and the introduction of an embargo against the largest supplier of tomatoes - Turkey. Per capita consumption of tomatoes decreased by 6.4%, amounting to 23.9 kg per year.

Figure 8. Dynamics of tomato consumption in Russia, 2013-2015, thousand tons

IMPORT AND EXPORT OF TOMATOES

Over the past few years, tomato imports have shown a steady downward trend amid the depreciation of the ruble and the course taken towards import substitution. This fact has a positive effect on the investment attractiveness of the greenhouse business, but at the same time, it negatively affects the supply of imported seeds for sowing, which are not produced in Russia, as well as some types of materials and equipment.

Today, imports account for about 24% of the Russian market. In 2015, Turkey was the leader in import deliveries (more than 52% of imports), which traditionally sent greenhouse tomatoes to Russia. In 2016, due to the imposition of an embargo on tomatoes from this country, the situation changed. According to the results of nine months of 2016, the main supplier was the representatives of Morocco (88.7 thousand tons) and Azerbaijan (86 thousand tons), which increased their supplies to our country by 158% and 56%, respectively. However, other countries could not replace Turkey - the total drop in imports in the third quarter of 2016 amounted to 32% (365 thousand tons).

Figure 9. Imports of fresh and chilled tomatoes of all types to Russia, 2005-2016 (Sept.), thousand tons

Source: FCS of Russia

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Figure 10. Imports of fresh and chilled tomatoes to Russia, 2005-2016 (Sept.), thousand dollars

Source: Federal Customs Service of Russia

The export of tomatoes from Russia is insignificant, although in 2015 it increased significantly and amounted to 11,750 tons. However, such growth can rather be called episodic, which is confirmed by the data of the Federal Customs Service of Russia. Here we are talking about one-time transactions, and export volumes are measured not in millions, but only in thousands of dollars.

Figure 11. Export of fresh and chilled tomatoes from Russia, 2005-2016 (Sept.), thousand dollars

Source: Federal Customs Service of Russia

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

The course taken by the state for import substitution should help domestic producers gain a foothold in the market in the face of reduced imports. We are talking about growing tomatoes indoors. Increasing the number of open areas seems to be inefficient due to the fact that the demand for tomatoes in August-September (harvest period) is small, and imports in these months are reduced to a minimum. Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation announced plans to lift the embargo on Turkish vegetables no earlier than in 2-3 years in order to contribute to the development of its own industry for the production of domestic greenhouse products.

Mikhail Semynin

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Foreign exporters have long settled on the Russian tomato market. However, not all products that come to our shelves from abroad can be called good.

The volume of imports of tomatoes to Russia is amazing: last year alone it amounted to about 600 thousand tons. So far, imports account for at least 50% of all products.


In Russia, the foreign origin of goods is often associated with high quality, but this is not entirely true for tomatoes. For starters, it’s worth figuring out where “foreigners” get on the shelves of domestic stores.

Exporting countries

There are several main countries that supply tomatoes to Russia. Mainly, these are Turkey, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Iran and China. Unfortunately, often imported products are not of the highest quality, and Russian regulatory authorities cannot monitor compliance with sanitary standards in exporting countries. In addition, imported tomatoes are picked from the branch while still green, as their transportation to our country takes about two weeks. But tomatoes are not bananas or avocados and cannot fully ripen if they are picked. Useful substances accumulate in tomatoes only on a branch in the process of ripening.

Imported tomatoes are often heavily loaded with pesticides. There are especially a lot of them in tomatoes from China, which are mainly supplied to the northern regions of the Russian Federation. When such a product reaches the store, it already acquires a white tint. Thus, pesticides become visible on the surface of the fruit. At the same time, the cost of tomatoes brought from abroad remains high, but the lack of an alternative forces consumers to purchase a low-quality product.

Another exporting country is Uzbekistan. Uzbek tomatoes are distinguished by a high sugar content, and manufacturers achieve this without the use of artificial nutrition. This favorably distinguishes Uzbek tomatoes from other imported ones. However, both cannot be called affordable for the consumer - for example, the price of Uzbek tomatoes in the season (June - August) averages about 300 rubles per 1 kg, in the off-season - twice or even three times more expensive.

Turkish tomatoes, on the contrary, have a relatively low wholesale price - about 70 rubles per 1 kg, which is even lower than the production cost of domestic tomatoes. However, the quality is noticeably worse and such tomatoes are stored for two or three days at most - the shelf life of Russian ones is ten times longer.

But what about import substitution?

Despite the policy of import substitution taken by the Government of the Russian Federation, foreign tomatoes will still dominate our market for some time. At the same time, there are no prerequisites for their quality to improve: there is a high demand for tomatoes in Russia, which is why foreign producers do not pay much attention to the organoleptic properties of products, relying only on crop volumes. The situation is complicated by the fact that due to the high tariffs for electricity required for greenhouse complexes, prices for Russian tomatoes are higher than for foreign ones.

Another problem for Russian producers is their heavy dependence on foreign seeds. Nevertheless, Russian scientists are actively conducting scientific developments to develop their own seed production and selection. The Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Agriculture provides that by 2026 the supply of original and elite seeds in the crops most dependent on imports should increase to at least 75%.

The growth of the domestic market gives reason to hope for the best in the near future: as analysts predict, by 2021-2022 the share of Russian manufacturers will grow to 80%, which will displace low-quality foreign products. Recently, our manufacturers have already begun to fill this niche with high-quality and safe products.

How to choose quality tomatoes?

To choose high-quality tomatoes, you need to pay attention to three important factors: manufacturer, appearance and smell of the fruit. Carefully study the label and information about where the tomatoes grew. It is safe to say that domestic products are much better quality. Among Russian tomatoes, it is better to buy those grown in the Stavropol Territory, where there is more natural light than, for example, in the Belgorod and Kaluga regions.

It is best to buy packaged fruits in a package, and not loose in a box, as happens in some stores. This is safer from the point of view of hygiene, and will also give confidence that this is a Russian tomato. When selling tomatoes in bulk, when they are openly available in boxes, the probability of random or non-random re-sorting is too high when a tomato, say, from Turkey, ends up in a box of some Stavropol producer. And this despite the fact that the price of domestic tomato, as a rule, is higher.



Appearance and smell can tell a lot about the quality of tomatoes. The surface of a mature tomato is dense and elastic, but not too thick, like those grown with nitrates. In addition, there should be no damage, rotting spots, white streaks, greenish stains under the skin, dried patches or dots of different sizes on the surface.

Good tomatoes have a uniform color, with the exception of striped varieties. The surface of the tomatoes should be shiny, but excessive shine indicates that the fruit has been treated with paraffin or wax-based substances in order to maintain its presentation. The danger of such substances is that they are not washed off with water and can lead to indigestion.

Ripe and natural fruits always have a slightly pronounced, but pleasant, characteristic warm and sweet smell, and the tastier and juicier the aroma, the better the fruit. Although it should be borne in mind that the stems, leaves and brushes of tomatoes have the most intense tomato flavor. Therefore, if you buy a tomato without a branch, then most likely you will not hear a strong smell.

It is also useful to pay attention to the weight of the fruit. The lungs will be with voids inside and there will be more moisture in them than pulp. Moderately dense and weighty tomatoes are usually fleshy and there is much less moisture in them.

Recently, small tomatoes - cherry and cocktail varieties - are gaining popularity in Russia. These fruits have a diameter of 25 to 45 mm, are sold both on branches and individually packed. They tend to be more fragrant and sweet. Russian agronomists have successfully learned to grow these varieties, so the offer and assortment is growing year by year. However, many consumers are lost, do not know how to eat them. Meanwhile, varietal feature small tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes, in that, in addition to higher sweetness, they also have more, compared to ordinary tomatoes, reserves of vitamin C and lycopene, powerful antioxidants. Lycopene is even recognized as one of the strongest plant defenders of the body against cancer cells.

Therefore, especially in the cold season, when the immune system needs support so much, it is worth consuming more of these healthy tomatoes.


And here, too, it is worth making a choice in favor of Russian products, since the most ripe and sweet cherry tomatoes and cocktail tomatoes are grown in the Stavropol Territory.

TASS, 30 October. Domestic producers of greenhouse vegetables are ready to compete with suppliers of tomatoes from Turkey, the restriction on the import of which Russia removes from November 1. According to experts and market participants interviewed by TASS, the main advantages of Russian products will be their naturalness and taste, and tomatoes from the regions North Caucasus ready to compete on price.

Investors who started building new greenhouses in the context of import restrictions also do not intend to abandon their projects, however, they may need state support to reach payback.

Russia imposed restrictions on the supply of goods from Turkey in November 2015 after the Turkish Air Force shot down in Syria Russian bomber Su-24. Since the summer of 2016, restrictions on the import of Turkish fruits and certain types of vegetables have been gradually lifted, but tomatoes remained banned.

Not plastic

One of the largest greenhouse farms in Russia is Yuzhny Agrokombinat JSC in Karachay-Cherkessia. According to the company's own data, it produces 7% of the total Russian volume of greenhouse vegetables. Last year, 46 thousand tons of vegetables were harvested here, the production growth was 23% compared to the previous year. Executive Director Umar Uzdenov acknowledges that the plant "certainly strengthened its position during the time when Turkish tomatoes were absent from the Russian market."

"The lifting of the ban on the import of tomatoes from Turkey is, of course, a reduction in the comfort zone. But at the same time, it is an additional incentive to increase its competitive advantages, a reason to continue looking for opportunities to reduce the cost of grown products," Uzdenov told TASS.

The fact that deliveries from Turkey will not affect the volume of tomato production in Russia, is sure the head of the large greenhouse farm "Vegetables of Stavropol" Sergey Makarov. “Our prices are affordable and the quality is better. We are out of competition, we have environmentally friendly products, we do not work with chemistry, so the taste is much better, they are easy to distinguish from Turkish "plastic". Now demand is outstripping supply, we have concluded agreements with large retail chains, because we provide year-round supplies, this suits them,” Makarov said.

They are not afraid of the return of Turkish tomatoes in Kabardino-Balkaria either. According to Irina Balkarova, head of the department of crop production and seed production of the Ministry of Agriculture of the KBR, today a relatively small amount of greenhouse vegetables is produced in the republic, while most of it is exported to other regions.

"Most large enterprise we have - Agro-Com LLC, which produces about 10 thousand tons - is it really volumes with Russian needs? They have very good tomatoes, there is a queue behind them,” Balkarova told TASS. - In addition, tomatoes from Turkey are not so cheap: what we grow in our personal subsidiary farms- they have the same price. We are not afraid, let them deliver it," the agency's interlocutor added.

According to a consultant in the field of construction and development industrial greenhouses, the head of Green Consult LLC Ilya Ivanov , the key advantages of tomato producers in the regions of the North Caucasus are more than low cost, the best taste qualities and ecological purity of the product - will allow them to compete with Turkish importers, including in large retail chains. “As for small complexes with a capacity of about 500 tons of tomatoes per year, they will have to focus on the domestic markets of the North Caucasus Federal District. Although they also have the prospect of gaining a foothold in large areas, for example, in Moscow and the Moscow region,” the expert noted.

Paying for Confidence

According to the head of the Kuban Greenhouses Association, financial director of the Krasnodar Region Vegetables greenhouse complex Alexey Konovalov, the price of domestic tomatoes will still be 15-20% higher than Turkish ones.

"Our tomato ripens in the greenhouse, it is delivered to the shelves fresher, while Turkey needs to harvest tomatoes at an earlier stage of maturity, on the way they need to be treated with appropriate preparations that ensure rapid ripening. The consumer needs to understand for himself what he wants: more high quality, but more expensive, or cheaper, but with certain risks," the expert explained.

The head of the Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergei Dankvert, also pointed to this. According to him, vegetables supplied from Turkey may contain pesticides that are this stage impossible to detect. “We have checkpoints where we are in electronic systems we enter the quantity (supplied tomatoes - TASS note). But from the point of view of pesticides, which are not controlled today, this has not yet been regulated in any way, ”Dankvert explained, answering a question from a correspondent. TASS in Saratov.

Previously, Rosselkhoznadzor had these powers, but they ceased back in 2011, and “in general, now the Ministry of Agriculture is not responsible for the use of pesticides in agriculture he said.

Turkey is not a hindrance to greenhouses

Investors of new greenhouse complexes, the construction of which was launched in recent years, are not afraid of the return of Turkish tomatoes, including against the backdrop of a food embargo on European and Turkish products. In particular, Ikrom Yadgarov, head of the Suvorovsky Agroholding project in the Tula region, where it is planned to invest 24 billion rubles in a 100-hectare greenhouse complex, is sure that “50 thousand tons of tomatoes allowed to be imported into Russia from Turkey are not significantly affect the alignment in the domestic market.”

»The announced project for the construction of a greenhouse complex will be implemented in full by 2020. Already in 2018, we will start growing tomatoes, the planned production volume is 4.1 thousand tons per year,” Yadgarov told TASS. He noted that large chain retailers of the Central Federal District, where it is planned to supply products of the new agricultural holding.

The second and third phases of a large greenhouse complex are planned to be commissioned in Novosibirsk in 2018, Alexander Mantsurov, co-owner of the Siberian Giant trading holding and the Giant Gardens greenhouse complex, reported TASS. According to him, the loss of imported vegetables was not particularly noticed in the regional market, so the prospect of their return was treated calmly here.

“We don’t feel this, yet Siberia is far from Turkey. We have our own regions here that traditionally supply vegetables and fruits, including the same tomatoes - these are both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. They are both closer in terms of logistics, and natural conditions they look like Turkish ones, so they grow tomatoes just as well," Mantsurov said.

To a greater extent, the expert notes, the change in the exchange rate difference two years ago, when the dollar rose sharply, affected the business in the field of greenhouse vegetable production. “Since the cost of imported vegetables is strongly tied to the currency, they have seriously risen in price. And in this part, that is, in vegetables that we can produce ourselves, we have a serious competitive advantage", - explained the source of the agency.

"Illuminate" to payback

Over the past three years, agricultural enterprises have invested heavily in the production of tomatoes, and the appearance of Turkish tomatoes will in any case affect the payback of new facilities, the head of the Kuban Greenhouses association is sure, financial director greenhouse complex "Vegetables of the Krasnodar Territory" Alexey Konovalov. “There are major players who invest quite seriously in the construction of greenhouse complexes, and now the growth rate is 150-200 hectares per year. If earlier we felt only external competition, now it is inside the country,” Konovalov noted.

“When sanctions were introduced, it served as a good incentive, people went into this business, in particular, we have no end to customers for tomatoes, large shipments go to central regions, - confirms the manager of the Dagestan LLC "Yugagroholding" Sharip Sharipov. The greenhouse complex of this company on an area of ​​5.5 hectares was put into operation in 2016, the second stage is planned to be completed before the end of this year. “We are not afraid, because we grow pink tomato - there is a demand for it, and Turkish red tomatoes are not competitors for us - they have a different consumer group and pricing policy."

Nevertheless, Sharipov believes that after the restrictions on the supply of Turkish tomatoes are lifted, it will not be easy for investors - "new incentives will be needed, because the production of vegetables requires serious costs and risks."

"So far there is ... the policy of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation to reimburse 20% of direct costs incurred to investors while the incentives work. But this reimbursement, given the high cost of projects modern greenhouses not enough. We have made 30% in dairy farming, we hope that compensation will be increased here as well," the expert noted.

An alternative to direct financial support could be the introduction of a preferential electricity tariff for greenhouses, said Konovalov from the Greenhouses of Kuban association.

“In Russia, it is possible to produce tomatoes only with the use of light culture: we definitely need to “light up” it. In Turkey, there is a different light zone, they do not need to do this. Accordingly, their cost is lower, and it is quite difficult for us to compete with them,” he said. expert. He also noted that since Turkish suppliers spend more on transporting vegetables and pay customs duties, “it would be possible to support the Russian producer with the help of customs regulation tools.”

 

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