Healthy Food Products: Competition of Manufacturers in the Russian Market

Abstract

In the last 10 years, the Russian market of healthy food has been rapidly gaining momentum. In 2012-2021, the volume of retail sales in the Russian market of healthy food products increased by more than 2 times. In this article, the purpose of the study is to assess competition in the segments of the Russian market of healthy food products ("Better for You", "Fortified/Functional", "Free from", "Naturally Healthy" and "Organic") and in the market as a whole for 2012–2021. Retail sales volumes (in million rubles) are taken as data of both domestic and foreign companies operating in the territory of the Russian Federation. The main research tools are the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI), the Lind index (IL), the concentration coefficient (CRSV), a modified version of the Hall– Tideman index (HTSV) and the SV matrix. The results show that, in general, the Russian market of healthy products is characterized by free competition. The "Free From" segment turned out to be the fastest growing, the "Better for You" segment was the most oligopolized, the "Fortified/Functional" segment was the most stable, the "Naturally Healthy" segment was the most competitive, and the "Organic" segment was the most monopolized.