Figures from the market research group GfK suggest that, compared with 1999, domestic producers continued to squeeze out unbranded goods in 2000. They maintained or even increased their relative share against international brands in segments such as tea, detergents and shampoo. Nevertheless, considerable constraints remain for local operators. Beer has ridden a wave of shifting consumer preferences among the young away from stronger alcohol drinks. But much of the strong recent growth has been dominated by foreign-owned companies such as Bravo, Baltika, Sun Interbrew and Efes, which have combined interational expertise with local production and marketing.
Quality control remains a considerable problem.
In Nizhny Novgorod, for example, the Galina Blanca factory making soup stock still imports its chickens from Spain. McDonald's, which has been present in Russia for over a decade, says it sources 75 per cent of its supplies within the country. And it still imports chickens from France, and cheese, fish and apple segments from Poland, not to mention potatoes in cut and frozen form from the Netherlands. Mr Thorsteinsson says that only the bottles and labels in his Bochkara beer are produced in Russia, along with St Petersburg's notoriously poor quality water, which has to be thoroughly filtered to bring it to acceptable levels. The bottles, many of which are recycled, frequently smash during filling.