"Baby session" is a quarterly meeting of representatives of the leaders of dairy and dairy industry, the largest international and Russian companies. At the event, experts share their case studies and discuss trends in production, processing and demand for products.

The soft cheese market in Russia consists of 5 major categories: cream cheese (21% of the market), the Caucasian cheese (20%), feta cheese and feta (18%), cheese (12%), Italian cheeses (12%) and smaller (the remaining 17% of the market). The main drivers of growth were cheese and Italian cheeses, feta.

The company "Umalat" took second place in the segment of ricotta in 2018: brands Unagrande and Pretto cover 35% of the market. It is worth noting that the culture of consumption of ricotta in Russia is at an early stage of development, therefore, most likely, in the coming years the market will continue to grow.

A similar situation was noted in the segment of mascarpone, where 25% are brands Unagrande and Pretto.

Sales of mozzarella in the water increased by 12%, while the brand manufacturer "Umalat" occupies 11% market share (3rd place). In 2019 and 2020, "Umalat" plans to climb in the rankings, thanks to increased production volumes due to the opening of a new high-tech plant for the production of cheese Mozarella group. Today it is the most modern plant in Russia.

With the General increase in consumption of soft cheeses on the market clearly highlighted the drop in sales of Adygei cheese 33% in 2018. This is due to the attempts of registration of appellations of origin "Circassian cheese" Caucasian producers and a ban on the use of this name for producers from other regions. The drop in sales of Adygei cheese has led to an overall market decline of the Caucasian cheese of 9% compared with the 2017 year.

The pork market in Russia is rather stable and the first place on volume (25%) is "Umalat".

"The market for soft cheeses in Russia is very fragmented, with about 50% of the market is occupied by local manufacturers. The company "Umalat" is 5% of the market and continues to grow. We strive to make the best cheeses, which will be appreciated by consumers. Therefore, in the modernization of production in 2019, we have invested more than a billion rubles. Total of same in the improvement of our plant in Bryansk region in 2013-2020 year we have already invested 2.4 billion rubles," - said Alexey Martynenko in his speech.

Market survey of soft cheeses prepared on the basis of the data of AC Nielsen in 2019 and allows to assess the current situation and prospects of development of the industry in the coming years.