Food Briefs

The Moscow supermarket chain Sedmoy Kontinent (“Seventh Continent”) said  it plans to open 10 more supermarkets in the capital by year’s end-- four opened in August 2001, the remainder are to open in November and December. The company projects 50% growth in sales this year, and a 150% increase between now and the end of 2002. Vladimir Karnaukhov, a company director, said that the supermarket sector in Moscow has huge potential, because 40% of Muscovites still shop at open air markets. Apparently several western firms agree. The German Metro chain has recently joined other major market players like the Turkish-owned Ramstore, and France’s Auchan also has designs on the market. In terms of per capita spending ($2000 per year) and annual sales turnover ($25 bn) the city of Moscow is now comparable with the entirety of Poland, which has been experiencing a supermarket boom.

Russia stopped fishing for Caspian sturgeon on July 20, 2001, as part of an international effort to save the fish which produce black caviar. The move was announced by deputy head of the State Fisheries Committee Anatoly Makoyedov, and stems from an agreement reached last month under the UN-Affiliated Convention on International Trade in Endangered species.