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- Everything is ready: the Central Bank noted the transition of Russians from restaurants to food from stores
Everything is ready: the Central Bank noted the transition of Russians from restaurants to food from stores
Hot dogs and onigiri are becoming more popular than restaurant dinners — the Central Bank noted the massive transition of residents of Central Russia to cheaper catering and ready-made food from stores. Nationwide, sales of such products increased by 27% in rubles in nine months. Customers are trying to save money and time, and the networks attract them with a wide range of dishes, experts explained. Following the demand, workers and investments flow from restaurants to food production. How lunch from the shelf changes the market, how it threatens a small cafe and whether the trend will help contain inflation — in the material of Izvestia.
What Russians like to eat
Residents of Central Russia are massively switching to cheaper catering and ready-made food from stores, according to the October report of the Central Bank "Regional Economy" (Izvestia has reviewed it). In the capital region, for example, the growth in the number of traditional format establishments has slowed down. At the same time, companies continue to actively invest in the production of culinary products, the regulator notes. The editorial board sent a request to the Bank of Russia.
In the whole country, in the first nine months of 2026, sales of ready-made food increased by 27% in monetary terms and by 19% in kind compared to the same period last year, said Dmitry Trifonov, co-founder of the NTech analytical company.
The main contribution to this dynamic was made by hot and cold drinks, as well as snacks, he said. The expert called the "food in hand" format — packaged products weighing up to 150 g - one of the key sources of growth.
Sales of hot dogs increased the fastest - by 163% in rubles and by 143% in physical terms. For burgers, these figures were 80% and 83%, for onigiri — 60% and 71%, respectively, Dmitry Trifonov cited the data.
Convenience stores remain the main place to buy ready-made food, the analyst added. In the first nine months, their share reached 62.2% compared to 60% in the first half of the year. The average receipt for such products amounted to 193 rubles, the press service of the ROMIR research holding reported.
The growth in demand was also confirmed by the retail chains surveyed by Izvestia. In January-October, sales of ready-made food in VkusVille increased by 8% year-on-year, the company said. The share of cooking in revenue reached 16%, and the number of receipts with such dishes added 9%.
Lenta reported a 20% increase in sales in this category in monetary terms and almost 18% in physical terms. The demand for packaged culinary products has grown by more than 50%, the network added.
In X5, sales of ready-to-eat food rose by 19% year-on-year in July-September, the group's press service noted. In terms of the number of servings sold, rice porridge (811,000), borscht (599,000) and chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes (502,000) were at the top of the list.
Onigiri and sandwiches are also very popular. As explained in X5, the reason is the summer surge in demand for snacks and the fashion for Asian cuisine.
Why is the demand for ready-made food growing?
Sales of ready-made food are growing mainly due to the fact that people take several positions at once instead of one, ROMIR said. The impact of inflation on these dynamics is small, the holding noted. Another factor is customer loyalty: they return to their usual networks without expanding the range of stores.
Demand is supported by a wider range of products. New items are appearing on the shelves, which increase sales, added Dmitry Trifonov from NTech.
Ready meals from stores help save money and time, says Igor Rastorguev, a leading analyst at AMarkets. According to him, customers perceive them as a more predictable alternative to cafes and restaurants, where the receipt is usually higher.
In addition, with a busy lifestyle, people have less energy left to cook, the expert continued. The purchased lunch is enough to warm up. In recent years, the chains have also improved the quality of cooking and diversified the assortment, which has strengthened consumer confidence, Igor Rastorguev noted.
At the same time, some catering establishments are losing visitors. As Izvestia wrote, the number of checks in individual networks decreased by 4-13% over the past year compared to 2024.
How does the popularity of ready meals affect the economy
The trend will continue in the medium term, says Igor Rastorguev from AMarkets. According to him, rising prices and the desire to fit into the family budget will continue to push people towards more economical food options.
Own production facilities and logistics development will help retail chains compete on price and expand their product range, the expert added. And delivery and new sales formats will make ready meals even more accessible to customers.
For the economy, this means a redistribution of workers and investments: some of them are moving from the restaurant business to enterprises that prepare food for stores, explained independent economist Andrei Barkhota. According to him, the growing demand increases the turnover of the food industry and its contribution to the economy.
However, small institutions may lose out in this competition, warned Victoria Pobedinskaya, Director of Communications at the Association for the Development of Financial Literacy. According to her, the added value is redistributed from small catering to large retail chains. For small cafes, this creates the risk of losing customers and revenue.
Andrey Barkhota assesses the impact of the trend on inflation as neutral or restraining. Supermarket ready-to-eat shoppers are more sensitive to price increases than restaurant patrons, he explained. This makes it more difficult for sellers to pass on rising costs to consumers.
If such competition slows down the rise in food prices, it helps the Central Bank to contain inflation, experts say. But switching to a cheaper lunch by itself does not give grounds for lowering the key rate: the money saved can be spent on other purchases and support demand already there. When making a decision, the regulator evaluates the situation in the entire economy: price dynamics, inflation expectations, and the balance of supply and demand.
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