Supplementary texts for reading a) Read and translate the text with the help of a dictionary. The Market of Sausage and Deli Meats in Moscow and Moscow Region

The research of Russian Enterprise Academy

Sausage is the favorite food of most Russian families. According to surveys conducted in August through September 2007, about 95% of Muscovites and Moscow Region residents consume sausage.

The market of sausage and deli meats is dominated by domestic producers, who supply more than 90% of the market. With that in mind, we will focus on domestic sausage and deli meats in this article.

The market of sausage and deli meats may be divided into two segments: everyday products (cooked sausage, frankfurters and thick wieners (sardelki)) and "special occasion" products (smoked sausage and deli meats). Accordingly, the market should be viewed as consisting of two segments: that of cooked sausage products, and that of smoked sausage/deli meats.

The market of cooked sausage is clearly overstocked with supply exceeding demand. At the moment, it is a consumer-driven market: whatever the consumer says goes. So dealers have no choice but to be active and creative. Whoever supplies quality and keeps it consistently high, wins.

In the market of smoked sausage and deli meats, demand exceeds supply due to the erratic nature of consumer needs and the more complex know-how involved in deli sausage manufacture.

When incomes grow, demand increases for premium quality products, but the reverse is also true. Medium and high-income families prefer quality producers, such as Mikoyan Meat Packing, or Mortadel. Low-income brackets (mainly retirees) have to buy cheaper varieties.

A great number of producers are present on Moscow's sausage market. A random sample survey identified 41 producers marketing their products in Moscow. The regional marketplace is less populated: only 16 meat packers operate there.

Moscow's market is dominated by the city's top 4 meat packing factories: Cherkizovsky, CampoMos, Mikoyan and Tsaritsino. The top ten market players in the city include two regional meat packers: Klinsky (Klin) with a market share of 5.2%, and Mortadel (Pushkino) with 2.6%.

The regional market is dominated by Tsaritsino, which commands 23.1% of the region's market. The second runner-up is Mortadel with 19.4%.

While only two regional producers have been able to attain decent positions in Moscow's market (Mortadel and Klinsky), their number is far greater in the regional market. These include Noginsk Meat Packing, Metatr ZAO (Korolev), and Sergiev Posad Meat Packing.

An analysis of the price lists of 20 meat packing companies boasting the best retail presence in Moscow and the region shows that the broadest product ranges are supplied by Cherkizovsky (290 product items), Klinsky (207) and Mortadel (176).

A wide product portfolio and price variety suggests a marketing strategy targeted to achieve the broadest possible market coverage.

Among our sample of 15, all meat packers offer cooked sausage, frankfurters, sardelki and lightly smoked sausage; 84% also offer boiled+smoked sausage; and 68% offer hard-smoked sausage, which is the most expensive and sought-after product in the industry.

A survey of 502 consumers and wholesale dealers (375 consumers and 127 dealers) was conducted in August and September 2001.

It turned out that wholesale dealers usually prefer to do business with the following suppliers: Tsaritsino (14.1% of the sample); Cherkizovsky (13.4%); Mikoyan (12.2%); CampoMos (11.3%) and Mortadel (7%). Consumers voted for the following producers: Mikoyan (15.5%); Klinsky (14.2%); CampoMos (10.1%); Mortadel (9%); Sergiev Posad (7%). In making their purchase decision, consumers are motivated by quality (25.2% of the sample polled), while dealers look at the product range (23.5% of the sample polled). Both dealers and consumers named the price as their second most important criterion (15.9% and 23.3%, respectively).

The price may vary considerably for one and the same product of the same producer in different administrative districts. For instance, the average price for the entire sausage range is Rbl 120.4 per kilo in Moscow's Eastern Administrative District (industrial area). In the capital's West End (Western Administrative District), the same products retail for an average of Rbl 133.7 per kilo.

Our market study suggests the following conclusions:

Russia's economy has fully recovered from the aftermath of the August 1998 financial crisis, and living standards are improving fast. With this in mind, demand will be on the rise for premium sausage and deli meats. Obviously, producers whose quality is acknowledged by both industry specialists (expo prizes) and consumers will prosper. Efficient advertising and promotions may also propel companies to success (tastings at well-attended points of sale work particularly well).