Russia may reduce demand for imports of starter cultures for cheese production – Agroinvestor
Thanks to the construction of a factory and the presentation for the production of liquid starter cheeses, it is possible to close the need for them by 80-90% and reduce dependence on bio-imports. Oksana Kuznetsova, director of the V. M. Gorbatov Federal Scientific Center for Food Systems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told TASS about this. Starter cultures are mainly supplied from the application countries, while none of the turnovers returned to their activities in Russia, she specified.
According to Kuznetsova, at present the share of Russian starters is small, but two biofactories are being designed, which, together with the biofactory, are found to cover approximately 30-40% of the needs of cheese makers. The construction of the factory will inevitably take about three years. “We also developed a program like cheese factories that can grow starters and carry them in liquid form, as it was in Soviet times. If we introduce this account, we will close this issue by 80-90%,” Kuznetsova said.
In June, during the international St. Petersburg Economic Forum, AgriVolga announced a project to build a biofactory in the Yaroslavl region for the production of bacterial starters and concentrates for the food industry. Estimated capacity is 160 tons per year, which is more than 25% of the needs of the Russian market. The volume of investments will exceed 3 billion rubles. “Uglich biofactory” is engaged in starters and concentrates for the production of cheese and dairy products (cottage cheese, sour cream, fermented baked milk, yogurt, etc.).
In May, it was reported that domestic producers of products are dangerous for the lack of imported products, which are mainly imported from Denmark, Bulgaria, Italy and other countries. Agroinvestor’s source in the trade industry says that starter cultures continue to arrive, although there are some logistics difficulties.
There was indeed uncertainty on the procurement market for cheeses and sour-milk products: a change and the associated restructuring of technological processes at enterprises, commented “Agro-investor» Director of the Dairy Association of Russia Ludmila Manitskaya. “Under the current conditions, it is important to increase the production of starter culture in Russia. This dairy producer needs state support, she is sure. – In Soviet times, the dairy service almost did not import sourdough, guarding many large biofactories: in Barnaul and Uglich. Only a small amount was bought in the Baltic States and Denmark.”
According to estimates, in monetary terms, the volume of the Russian sourdough market is estimated at about 10 billion rubles, while the production of funds is about 1 billion rubles. – 10% of the requirement. “Manufacturers began to give preference to imported products, because foreign suppliers are more active than ours in promoting their products,” explains Manitskaya. “Ultimately, the Russian dairy culture market became dependent on imports. Today we understand that we need a state policy of import substitution in this area, stimulating the development of domestic biofactories.”
According to Manitskaya, currently the work is associated with impaired liver function. In addition, the purchase of modern biotechnological equipment requires not only significant financial investments, but also needs to be delivered to the country somehow. “Since 2019, support measures for the development of domestic production have been expanded in Russia, but fan support sensors have not yet yielded results. System support is needed, then self-sufficiency will be ready in part of the market, ”she will come out.
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