The expansion of the supplies geography, primarily due to North America and Europe, allowed Russia to increase the volume of caviar exports significantly. In 2016-2020, it almost doubled (+96.7%) to ca. 1.2 tons. According to the forecasts of RusAg’s Center for Industry Expertise the main export subcategory by the end of 2021 will be white caviar, which will be ahead of the red caviar in terms of supply due to wide taste and price range.
“The positive trend is explained by the increase in exports of white caviar: it grew by 25% to 663 tons by the end of 2020. This year, this type of caviar will maintain a leading position in Russian exports due to a wide price and taste ranges, as well as new opportunities outside the food sector,” explains Andrey Dalnov, Head of RusAg’s Centre for Industry Expertise.
The United States showed the sharpest increase in demand for Russian caviar in five years: supplies increased from 4 tons in 2016 to 28 tons in 2020 (by 640% or 7.4 times). Last year, the United States was one of the top ten countries in terms of caviar imports.
“The example of the United States in increasing imports of Russian caviar is also indicative for other western countries of the Northern hemisphere. It is explained by two factors. Firstly, this is an increase in the middle class share and the accompanying spread of restaurants with premium cuisine of different countries, including Russian. Secondly, there is an additional demand from companies in the non-food sector, where caviar is used as a component for the production of cosmetic and pharmacological products. Local producers cannot always provide these additional volumes and at the same time maintain supplies to the food industry, so imports come to the rescue. Together with the weakening of Russian currency, these factors ensured the growth of caviar exports to Western markets,” comments Andrey Dalnov.
2020 vs 2019 in COVID conditions
Moldova (+161% or 2.6 times, up to 64 tons) and Canada (+81% up to 19 tons) showed high export growth trend over the year.
Against the backdrop of overall export growth, supplies to China decreased by 65% from 42 tons in 2019 to 15 tons in 2020.
“The decline in exports to China was a direct consequence of COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the local government. Nevertheless, China retained top-10 in imports of Russian caviar by the end of 2020,” comments Andrey Dalnov.
According to RusAg’s Center for Industry Expertise, between 2016 and 2019, Russian caviar exports to China increased by 365% (or 4.6 times), making this country one of the main export destinations for domestic caviar producers.
Spread over slice of bread
Most often, red caviar is associated with caviar in general. According to the results of 2020, the share of red caviar in total export of this category amounted to 45%, and Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan became the main contributors. Over the year, the volume of red caviar exports increased from 506 to 540 tons.
The niche product is black caviar. Its share in export amounted to about 0.2% in 2020. Singapore, Canada, Australia and the Republic of Korea becoming the main buyers along with Kazakhstan and Belarus.
However, most of all, Russia exports white caviar – the caviar from white fish. In 2020, white caviar export was 55% of total caviar exports and amounted to 663 tons. This type of caviar is most in demand of neighboring countries: Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and China.