Locally produced bread, buckwheat, and meats have since become widely available. Their prices have indeed risen, but compared to the price of foreign luxury goods, they remain relatively affordable to consumers.
Large Russian bread manufacturers, for example, have placed a moratorium on increasing their prices till the end of this year. Bread prices in Moscow now average around 26 roubles.
The vacuum left by foreign brands and goods has also been gradually filled by local ones.
Walk through a Russian supermarket and you will see that where bottles of Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Sprite once stood, the shelves now display new Russian variants. In May, local beverage manufacturer Ochakovo released “Cool Cola”, “Fancy” and “Street”. Locals tell me they aren’t very sweet but are cheaper.
McDonald’s, having suspended their operations in Russia, sold its business to its licensee, Vkusno, i tochka (which in English means “Tasty, and that’s it”). From my experience dining at the rebranded fast-food chain, everything is practically the same, just without the Big Mac.
Besides homegrown enterprises replacing foreign franchises, Russia’s agricultural sector can keep the population fed. Globally, in terms of total production, Russia ranks first for barley and buckwheat, third in wheat and fifth in chicken, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Russian people have long adapted to desperate situations. During the Soviet era, citizens cultivated crops like cucumber and cabbage at their dachas, or summer houses, to protect themselves from food shortages arising from a planned economy.
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