Russia's ban on imports of agricultural products from the European Union is set to have an immediate impact on Russian traders, which are scrambling to find alternative sources of supply.
Belaya Dacha Trading, which supplies fresh-cut salads and vegetables to fast food chains in Russia, including McDonald's, as well as to many of the country's retailers, is one such company.
'The ban means we now have to search for alternatives to European supplies,' says purchasing manager Irina Parfenova. 'Our main sources are usually Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, but now we are looking to producers in Africa, Turkey, South America and Asia.'
Products sought by Belaya Dacha Trading include various lettuces and herbs, such as Romaine, frisé, Lolla Rossa, radicchio, red chard, Mizuna, spinach, rocket, Tatsoi and valerian, as well as green apples, tomatoes and peeled carrots.
The company, which operates fresh-cut facilities throughout Russia, including in Moscow, Tatarstan and Novorossiysk, is currently in touch with suppliers in Turkey and Tunisia, according to Parfenova.
'We already have a contract with a Tunisian supplier, so now we want to increase our number of suppliers in this country,' she says. 'We are also in talks with companies in Turkey and India.'
The company's main wish, she says, is that the ban prove shorter than the one year announced by Russian president Vladimir Putin. 'We hope it will not last as long as a year,' she says. 'That is a long period of time to have to find alternative suppliers for so many different products.'
