Russian Food Research Articles

Sensory landscape of the Russian empire in “The Letters from Russia” (1856–1857) by Juan Valera

The article considers new perspectives in working with travel notes as a historical source. Through the careful reading of “The Letters from Russia” (1856-1857) by Spanish diplomat and writer Juan Valera (1824-1905), the article examines the role of sensory impressions and their place in constructing Russia’s image. Particular attention focuses on the analysis of methods and approaches of sensory history. By applying content analysis, it was possible to identify four topics addressed by the Spanish diplomat: colours, tastes, sounds, and smells. Thanks to the interdisciplinary approach, we reconstructed the author’s percep- tion of Russia’s visual and sound landscape, his attitude to the Russian elite’s and the ordinary people’s tastes (food and drinks), the smells that he encountered during the trip. For example, the Russian empire seemed to the Spanish author brilliant, golden and silver, and its sound perception was characterized by the loud sound of local bells and melodic singing of church choirs. At the same time, a Spanish diplomat was openly disappointed with the common people’s food and its smell, and the Russian countryside, in general, seems colourless to him. The Spaniard’s idea of Russia was established under the influence of his native environment and by the St. Petersburg elite. Given the fact that the author spent most of his time in the company of the Russian elite, he managed to recreate Russia’s holistic sensual landscape only in the context of its sounds and smells. In the case of Russian food and colours, readers can observe an unfinished image that only partially reproduces the author’s vision of “folk” and “parade” Russia. For example, due to the author’s limited mobility, the text contains almost no information about the color palette of a Russian city or village. Despite this, the study of these phenomena not only revealed the basic features of the then Russian everyday life but also allowed a better understanding of the personality of Juan Valera and the way of forming his ideas.

Methodology for the latent indicators formation

The food industry is the most important link in the food realm of the country, determining the possibility of its autonomous existence in critical situations. This type of industry plays a leading role in solving the issue of providing the population with food products in a sufficient range and quantity. The food industry is in demand all over the world, since the need for food is the basic need of every person. The uniqueness of the Russian food industry is determined by its close connection to regional peculiarities and, as a result, the uneven distribution of food industry enterprises across the country. The study is devoted to the analysis of interrelationships of the food industry indicators with the indicators of the socio-economic sphere and the formation of latent indicators of the economy according to the indicators of de- velopment of the food industry on the example of the Volga Federal District. The paper presents a multidimensional study of the closeness of relationship between the indicators of the food industry and the indicators of the socio- economic sphere using canonical analysis. The indicators of the food industry have the greatest connection with the indicators of public health, since the significant coefficient of canonical correlation in 2019 was more than 0.6. In this group of indicators, the analysis of canonical correlation revealed that such indicators as the production of livestock and poultry for slaughter, as well as the gross harvest of vegetables, have the most significant influence. The coefficients for the indicators of total fertility and mortality rates are dramatically high in the studied groups. This indicates that the de- terioration in the quality and quantity of products will lead to a decrease in the birth rate and an increase in the mortality rate. In this paper, based on canonical variables, the visualization of multidimensional data is carried out and a method for classifying regions in according to their resources and potential is proposed. The results of clustering focusing on the plant resources and trade potential show which territorial authorities situated close can exchange technological experi- ence and provide support to each other. The paper also ranks the entities of the Volga Federal District, according the degree of impact of the food sector indicators with the use of latent indicators.

Доктрина продовольственной безопасности России: социально-экономические и социально-биологические аспекты её реализации в Арктике

The article considers socio-economic and socio-biological aspects of the Russian Food Security Doctrine, approved on January 21, 2020. The need to monitor Russia's food security is due to significant changes in “the country's socio-economic development, the emergence of new risks and threats to food security caused by economic sanctions imposed in 2014 by a number of Western countries against our country, the openness of the national food market” in connection with the accession to the World Trade Organization, and the deepening integration within the EAEU. The article examines modern approaches to the definition of state food security. Certain provisions of the Doctrine of Food Security of the Russian Federation are assessed, the analysis of food security in Russia in terms of self-sufficiency, economic and physical availability of food was carried out on the basis of statistical data. Food security in Russia has been achieved for the main items of food products, which is confirmed by the results of the analysis performed. A similar positive trend in the development of our country is confirmed by the estimates of foreign researchers based on the results of the Global Food Security Index monitoring. A comparative analysis of the diet of the population of Russia and the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts is given. The work focuses on socio-biological risk factors for food security in the Arctic region of Russia.

Crop development peculiarities among quinoa foreign varieties (Chenopodium quinoa willd.) in agriclimatic conditions of Crnbez

The modern Russian food market is constantly enriched with new types of products obtained from the crops previously unknown to the domestic consumer. One of the plants of interest in this regard is quinoa, Chenopodium quinoa Willd., a pseudo-grain culture from the Amaranthaceae Juss family of the Chenopodioideae Burnett subfamily. Grain quinoa has a high nutritional value and a unique chemical composition: it has a high protein content (up to 20%), which contains the most important amino acids. It does not contain gluten, and is rich in polyunsaturated oils, vitamins and minerals. The adaptive potential of quinoa allows it to be cultivated in a wide range of agricultural-ecological conditions. It should be noted that quinoa is resistant to abiotic stresses, which is important, taking into account global climate changes, the manifestations of which negatively affect the productivity of traditional agricultural crops.

Thinking out loud: how science faces crises

Thinking out loud: how science faces crises

Impact of the Value of Intangible Assets on the Capitalization of Food Retailers for their sustainable Growth

The objective of the research in the article is the food retail companies that occupy leading positions in the Russian and foreign markets. The subject of the study is financial and economic relations in the field of the use of intangible assets (IA) as a significant factor in increasing the capitalization of food retailers and their sustainable development. The relevance of the problem is due, on the one hand, to the significant contribution of trade to the country’s GDP, on the other hand, to the need to find new drivers for the sustainable development of food retailers in the context of overcoming the negative consequences of the pandemic and the digital economy. The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the value of intangible assets on the capitalization of food retailers. The authors applied the methods of comparative analysis, calculation of financial and economic indicators, correlation, and regression analysis of statistical data processing. The authors used Student’s t-test and Fisher’s f-test to confirm the quality of the constructed model. The study shows that Russian food retailers, as compared to foreign ones, occupy a smaller market share in the domestic economy and have a smaller share of intangible assets in the non-current assets of companies (except for X5 Retail Group). On the Russian food market, a trend has been revealed towards an increase in the production of goods under private labels and a decrease in the presence of foreign retailers, as well as an increase in the share of online trading that requires the use of intellectual property, including digital intangible assets, and leads to an increase in cash flows. Based on multivariate correlation analysis, it was found that the capitalization of trading companies in the food sector is most affected by the value of intangible assets and return on them. The constructed model of linear two-factor regression allows the authors to conclude that with an increase in the value of intangible assets by 1%, the market capitalization of a company increases by 10% with a constant return on assets. The article provides recommendations for Russian food retailers on the formation and use of a portfolio of intangible assets for value-based business management, which will contribute to their sustainable development.

Russia’s changing role in the international agri-food system and why it matters

ABSTRACT The Soviet Union was an irregular participant in the global food trade system and it entered the global market only when it needed to import grain. In the post-Soviet period, Russia continued its role as an importer, mainly meat products. In the past decade, Russia’s role in the international food trade system has changed from being a food importer to an importer and exporter. Russia has emerged as a major supplier of wheat to global markets, participating regularly in the trading system. In recent years, authoritarian states have become the main customers of Russian agri-food exports, which is important because Russian food may prevent the threat of food insecurity from combining with other grievances to cause social unrest or political instability in those illiberal states.

Development of Existing and Alternative Formats of Retail Chains in the Context of the Pandemic

In the current conditions of development of trade relations, one branch of the economy is particularly distinguished from other types of activity, and this is retail chains. We have high expectations for this area to meet basic human needs during the pandemic. The buildup caused by COVID-19 has put retail chains and supply chains on the brink of survival. Nevertheless, at the moment, we can make straightforward conclusion that the Russian food retail has effectively and promptly dealt with the current situation in order to meet the consumer needs. It quickly moved online and established its technological processes to do home delivery. The analysis showed that the volume of orders made online increased in March 2021 fivefold compared to March 2020. In this study, the author employed the methods of statistical and factor analysis. The article revealed the role of network retail in providing the public with the necessary goods and services during the pandemia. The study examined the ways of improving trade policy of retailers who are forced to develop alternative formats of trade under new economic conditions, in particular, online trade. The article provided the classification of retail chains operating in the FMCG retail format (consumer goods).

Adaptation of Foreign Experience in Ensuring Food Security to Russian Conditions

One of the most significant criteria characterizing the effectiveness of the country’s food security system is ensuring access of the entire population (including the poor) to the necessary amounts of food. To solve the problem of poverty and malnutrition, new approaches that involve strengthening government regulation, attracting resources from commercial companies, and increasing the efficiency of public socially-oriented organizations are needed. The article proposes a large-scale state program that provides support to the country’s poor, with the active participation of business structures and Russian food banks. The main directions of the state program are determined taking foreign experience in supporting the poor, as well as the specifics of the development of the Russian economy and social sphere into account. Particular attention is paid to the changes in the tax legislation of the Russian Federation, aimed at increasing the interest of private enterprises in the implementation of the program to support the low-income population. The proposed amendments are especially relevant in the face of the deteriorating economic situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The developed set of measures complies with the provisions of the updated Food Security Doctrine of 2020 and can be an addition to the strategies being implemented to improve the efficiency of the food security system in the Russian Federation.

Сomponents in Russian culinaronyms: combination of culinary and language (From material of headlines of culinary journals)

The purpose of this study is to point out the components in modern Russian culinaronyms. This work also presents components’ characteristics as a theoretical part for naming food. We have used the qualitative descriptive method to find out the components included in Russian culinaronyms. The results of this study indicate that there are a number of components in modern Russian food names such as culinary group (gathering a number of components related to cooking), human, time, and freedom (or author component). Moreover, these elements can be identified with the help of different language tools. This research moreover reveals that one lexicon can constitute rotated component or doubled-component. The result of the study can be used by students and specialists in courses of lexicology and linguoculture. Besides, this study contributes to the stylistic features of culinary text type. This research focuses on systematizing components in Russian culinaronyms, introducing the new concept of ‘culinaronym component’ and its general qualities based on the combination of culinary and language.

Analysis of the football players’ actual nutrition

Objective: to assess the actual nutrition of football players according to their personal daily energy expenditures.Materials and methods: the study of the actual nutrition of the athletes of the division II football team was carried out at the training camp. A total of 23 athletes participated in this study, including 3 goalkeepers, 3 attackers, 7 defenders, and 10 midfielders. The average age of the team is 24.2 ± 0.3 years. The collection of information on actual nutrition was carried out in two ways: using a 24­-hour dietary recall method for at least 2 days and frequency meal analysis method. The amount of food consumed was determined using lists that include information on portions and meals. The chemical composition and energy value of the diets were evaluated using two databases of Russian food composition tables. Energy expenditures were calculated using the heart rate monitoring.Results: study results show that the energy value of football players’daily ration averaged 2560.6 ± 150.6 kcal, while the average energy expenditure was 4100.0 ± 51.3 kcal/day. The study revealed high levels of fat (42 %) and EFA (14,8 %) consumption in terms of dietary intake, while the proportion of energy from carbohydrates was insufficient, only 43.1 %. Moreover, the athletes obtain 17.5 % of their energy intake from added sugar. In addition, the study revealed insufficient intake of vitamins A and B1 among 86 % of athletes, B2 — 79 %, niacin — 65 % and vitamin C — 72 %. Analysis of the daily intake of minerals revealed an insufficient calcium content in the 38 % of football players’ diets, magnesium — in 62 %, and low calcium to phosphorus ratio — in 44 % of diets.Conclusion: the data obtained showed a nutritional imbalance of the football players, both in intake of calories and in the nutrient consumption. 50 % of the athletes surveyed have insufficient protein intake, 80 % of those surveyed had high levels of fat and EFA consumption. The study revealed a high prevalence of genetic polymorphism associated with impaired bone mineralization. Considering that high performance sport requires a special approach to each athlete, taking into account his individual needs, the functional state of the body, genetic characteristics, the training phases, each athlete needs a personal diet, which will include certain products, vitamin and mineral supplements, and will definitely be adjusted in the future.

Conceptual framework for sustainable development of food market

The present research deals with substantiating the need to develop a conceptual framework for the sustainable development of the food market and ensuring the country's food security through domestic production of quality food. At present, the sustainable development of economic systems is a relevant problem, and therefore the sustainable development of the food market is also becoming acute. This problem is not sufficiently developed in both theoretical and practical aspects. Its study allowed identifying factors that affect the sustainability of the food market. These factors include industrializing agriculture, improving agricultural technologies, developing market infrastructure, ensuring national competitive advantages of the agrifood sector, etc. The article analyzes the key trends in the development of the Russian food market, which allowed concluding that ensuring its sustainable development should include economic regulators that would ensure the combination of interests of the state, producers, and consumers, as well as forming equivalent relations among them. The study presents the main provisions of the sustainable development concept of the food market.

Agribusiness Changes Caused by the Russian Food Embargo: An Interfirm Relationships Perspective

Agribusiness Changes Caused by the Russian Food Embargo: An Interfirm Relationships Perspective

Food purchase and eating behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey of Russian adults

The Russian government took strong containment measures to prevent the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with rigid hygiene protocols and restrictions on daily living, such as social distancing and closing businesses and schools. While these measures were crucial to stop the diffusion of SARS-CoV-2, numerous voices highlighted their disorderly psychological, social, and economic impacts on food consumption behavior and lifestyle. Therefore, this paper aims to understand how consumers’ food-related habits in Russia have shifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and potential problems and opportunities this might bring for the Russian food system. The study is based on an online cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire administered in Russian through the Survey Monkey platform. A total of 1297 valid answers was collected. The results reveal that diet and food shopping, preparation, and use have been widely affected. Indeed, the survey results suggested (i) a change in the modality of acquiring food, consumers reduced the number of shopping trips and buying more on each trip to minimize store visits; (ii) a surge of stockpiling of non-perishable food items; (iii) a shift toward healthier diets; (iv) an increase in culinary capabilities; (v) a decrease of food waste. The results are expected to inform current emergency plans as well as long-term food-related strategies in Russia.

Import substitution in Russia: current state and prospects

Import substitution is a process of gradual displacement of foreign goods in the domestic market by analogues of domestic production. In Russia, the need to accelerate the development of national production of agricultural raw materials and food products has been discussed since the beginning of the second decade of this century, since the increasing share of foreign goods in the national consumption of products on the domestic market has become a signal of a violation of the country’s food security indicators. The State authorities made the appropriate necessary decisions, which were implemented. This issue became particularly relevant after 2014, when Russia suddenly faced sanctions against it from the United States and its NATO allies. This led to the adoption of the counter-embargo, stimulated the development and implementation of additional eff orts to develop import substitution in our country. In a fairly short period of time, our country has achieved very signifi cant results in increasing its independence from imports, primarily in the food market, in particular in eliminating the shortage of meat and dairy products. The domestic market has become fully secured due to the national production of poultry, pork, many types of vegetables, and confectionery. The national production of beef and dairy products has expanded. This made it possible to signifi cantly reduce the import supply of such goods. The authors consider and analyze the current trends and features of this process. For a number of food products, Russia has become a major exporter on the world market, capturing major positions in the world market of wheat, sunflower oil, fats, a number of other food products, as well as fertilizers. The demand for Russian food products on a large scale is presented by China, the countries of the Middle East, and North Africa. Nevertheless, there are still unresolved problems in the country, which the authors point out. In particular, it is necessary to make eff orts to reduce import supplies of seeds, seedlings, breeding cattle, highly specialized agricultural machines, food equipment, to expand the development or purchase of technologies for processing agricultural products, the production of food additives and other imported components for the processing industry. Of course, there will remain some types of tropical agriculture, which the country will continue to import, since it is impractical to develop their production in Russia for climatic reasons.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ПРОДОЛЬСТВЕННОГО ОБЕСПЕЧЕНИЯ И РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ ПРОДОВОЛЬСТВЕННОГО РЫНКА ПРИГРАНИЧНЫХ РЕГИОНОВ ДФО

The complex administrative and territorial structure of Russia, the significant differentiation of regions according to the level of economic development, the heterogeneity of natural and climatic conditions, the historically established system of specialization and division of labor, the different demographic situation, the different distances of regions from the center of Russia and its state borders, and national traditions objectively determine the emergence of regional food markets that reflect the specifics of the development of individual regions. Food security is the dominant part of the socio-economic policy and the primary task of the leaders of any state, a necessary factor for improving the quality and increasing the comfort of life of the population [2]. The problems of the formation and development of the Russian food market in general and regional food markets in particular in the border regions remain not fully understood. In the conducted research, insufficient attention was paid to the assessment of the conditions and factors that determine the process of achieving the goal of regulating the food market in a market economy, the specifics of the methods, mechanism and consequences of regulating the food markets of the regions, the assessment and methods of ensuring food security of both the country as a whole and the Far East in particular. The revision of the policy of state influence on economic processes required the development of a concept of state support for various subjects of economic relations and the formation of mechanisms for regulating markets, including food markets. The smooth functioning of food markets, combined with a focus on the products of domestic producers, is an essential condition for ensuring the country's food security.

Analysis of the efficiency of using the machine and tractor fleet (on the example of agricultural enterprises of the Ryazan region)

The efficiency of the use of agricultural machinery is largely a determining factor in the efficiency of agricultural production in general. The analysis of the efficiency of using the machine and tractor fleet of agricultural enterprises should be comprehensive. It should be based on a set of such indicators, both quantitative and qualitative indicators, but for crop production, the construction of this system of indicators has its own specifics, due to the fact that in agriculture the working period and the production period do not coincide. When studying the economy of machine use, it is necessary to distinguish between the concepts of direct effect and efficiency, the measure of which is the ratio of operating costs and the volume of mechanized work required for these conditions. The efficiency analysis should be based on the indicators of the volume of mechanized work performed with the help of machines, aggregates, machine and tractor fleet per shift, day, period, year. In close connection with the productivity of machine operators and the level of use of equipment are such cost, generalizing indicators as the cost of mechanized work and the cost of production. The article evaluates the efficiency of using the machine and tractor fleet of agricultural enterprises in the Alexander Nevsky district of the Ryazan region, and analyzes the dynamics of crop energy saturation, showing its trends in 2015–2019. The analysis showed that in comparison with the level of 2015, the energy saturation of agriculture in the Ryazan region decreased by 7.6 %. Also, the energy supply of labor decreased by 7.8 %. High energy intensity leads to a reduction in the competitiveness of Russian food, which today is significantly inferior to Chinese, Polish, Israeli, and, in a number of sub-sectors of agriculture — Western European. In conditions of low attractiveness of agricultural production in the banking sector, the role of state support for the development of the material and technical base increases. The analysis of the directions of state support showed that the federal budget presupposes the use of indirect measures of state support (subsidizing the interest rate), and the regional budget combines direct measures (subsidies for the reimbursement of part of direct costs) and indirect regulation in the same proportion.

Quality of milk consumed in Samara region: An analysis of milk physical and chemical characteristics

Objectives an analysis of physical and chemical indicators of milk quality produced under the most popular brands in the Samara region.
 Material and methods. The study was selective and prospective, focused on the physical and chemical indices of milk quality. The sampling was based on the results of the assessment of the frequency of consumption of various brands of milk by the population of the Samara region. The analysis included five samples of milk of different brands, purchased in the retail food store chain, and assessed their various physical and chemical indicators. All measurements were performed in accordance with the regulatory documentation.
 Results. Only 1/3 part of respondents (32.6%) included milk in their daily diet. All five milk samples subjected to physical and chemical examination met the requirements of the current regulatory documentation. However, in assessing the nutritional value of the samples by mineral composition, it was found that the actual content of phosphorus and calcium is significantly lower than the values of the corresponding indicators set out in the handbook "Chemical composition and calorie content of Russian food products" that is used as a guide by nutrition specialists.
 Conclusion. Milk purchased in the food store chain met the safety requirements for physical and chemical indicators. The reduced level of milk consumption among the population of the Samara region requires management decisions. The actual chemical composition of this product, which has regional and seasonal characteristics, should be taken into account in the development of diets for defined population groups.

Разработка технологии производства биомассы Bacillus megaterium кормового назначения

Introduction. Obtaining protein and vitamin fodder is one of the urgent tasks that modern industrial biotechnology has to solve. Another task is a search of novel medium compositions for microbial fermentation that can lower production costs. Russian food industry produces a significant amount of sunflower seed processing byproducts every year. Sunflower meal is a promising source of sunflower protein isolate. The research objective was to develop a new technology for the production of Bacillus megaterium bacterial biomass for fodder purposes.
 Study objects and methods. The research featured a sunflower protein isolate, an enzyme complex Protex 7L, and a B. megaterium strain (VKPM B-3750). The carbohydrate content was determined using a modified Bertrand method. Amine nitrogen was studied using formol titration, the number of viable cells – by the Koch method, the content of amino acids – by capillary electrophoresis. 
 Results and discussion. When processed with enzyme complexes, sunflower protein can be an alternative source of nitrogen for industrial fermentation. The study featured amino acid of sunflower protein isolate and enzymatic hydrolyzate obtained using Protex 7L. A comparative analysis of the content of amino acids in the hydrolyzate and the protein isolate showed that enzymatic hydrolysis can significantly increase the content of free amino acids in the medium available for microbial accumulation. The research proved that sunflower protein enzymatic hydrolyzate obtained using Protex 7L can be used to cultivate strains of B vitamins producers. 
 Conclusion. Sunflower protein enzymatic hydrolyzate can be used as a nitrogen source for B vitamins producer fermentation and as an alternative to expensive meat peptone. The research involved technical and economic assessment of the B. megaterium fermentation on enzymatic hydrolysates of sunflower protein at a production capacity of 100 kg per year. The cost of the protein-vitamin supplement was calculated as 413 rubles per kg, while the market price could reach 826 rubles per kg. The payback period for capital expenditures was estimated at 1.5 years. Thus, replacing commercial meat peptone with sunflower protein enzymatic hydrolyzate obtained with Protex 7L reduced the cost of 1 kg of feed additive by three times without affecting B. megaterium. Overproduction of B vitamins by the B. megaterium strain on a medium containing sunflower protein hydrolyzate requires optimization of fermentation conditions.

Economic consequences of the Russian food embargo (meat and meat products)

In work the estimation of the volume and value of imports of product group 02 unified Foreign Economic Activity Commodity Nomenclature of the Eurasian Economic Union (FEACN of the EEU) under embargo. For evaluation, we used data external trade statistics of the customs service of the Russian Federation. The analysis showed that the product group 02 FEACN of the EEU were imported with a certain periodicity. It is noted that the reduction of customs duty payment in 2014 relative to 2013 was $500 million.