Russian consumers are increasingly substituting basic staples for once-affordable vegetables amid surging food prices and shrinking household budgets.
The most striking example is potatoes, a longtime dietary cornerstone in Russia, whose average retail price rose by 173% year-over-year by the end of May, the steepest annual increase in the past 23 years ... Svetlana Misikhina, deputy director of the Center for Development at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, estimated that the affordability of potatoes has declined by nearly 45% over the past year.
Other key products are showing similar trends: the average price of onions rose 41% year over year, while butter became 34% more expensive. As a result, the affordability of onions and butter fell by 17% and 15%, respectively.
By contrast, the affordability of products like grains and pasta has improved by 12 and 14%, respectively, reflecting both relatively stable prices and increased consumer demand, Misikhina said.
Despite official attempts to frame this dietary shift as a choice for “higher-quality foods,” the data paints a picture of economic strain.