What you eat: ready-made food will be defined
In the last days of 2025, the government discussed the regulation of the ready-to-eat food industry. This concept should now have a clear definition, products that are sold in stores and through delivery, and products from cafes and restaurants should be separated. Roskachestvo has already developed a draft GOST for ready-made food, and the Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Ready-made Food sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on December 30 with a request to support this standard. Izvestia investigated why retailers advocate regulating this market and what consumers will get from it.
What the market is asking for
The issue of regulating the ready-to-eat food market was discussed at a meeting of the State Commission for combating Illicit trafficking in industrial products in the Government of the Russian Federation. Based on its results, Rospotrebnadzor was instructed to prepare proposals on amendments to legislation to regulate the ready-to-eat industry.
It was reported at the meeting that the ready-to-eat segment has been growing by an average of 30% over the past three years. However, according to Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, it is necessary to give a clear definition of the term "ready-made food" and separate the products of delivery and restaurant products.
"The answers to these basic questions will be the starting point for building a comprehensive regulatory system in this market segment. The task is extremely important and concerns the safety of our citizens, given the negative experience of mass poisoning last year," he said. We are talking about the situation in the summer of 2024, when there was a massive poisoning of dishes ordered from the Kitchen in the Area delivery service.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade explained to Izvestia that although the field of ready—made food is a fast-growing market, there is currently no definition of the term "ready-made food". At the same time, according to all indications, it "meets the existing definition of culinary products," the ministry said. And now, "ready—made food" — regardless of the presence or absence of the term - is subject to all the requirements established for food products in general: technical regulations, federal laws, SanPiNs.
"Being the supervisor of both the trade and catering sectors, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, at the request of market participants, created a working group to develop proposals for regulating the ready—to—eat market, which included representatives of retail chains, manufacturers of ready-to-eat food, delivery services and the restaurant industry," the ministry's press service noted.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade added that Roskachestvo has developed a draft GOST. Its first edition has been submitted to the Ministry and is under consideration.
The Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Ready-made Food (APPGE), which includes X5, Yandex Lavka, Azbuka Vkusa, Mr. Food, IPK Atyrau and Omega LLC, sent a letter to the Ministry in support of this GOST (available to Izvestia).
The letter emphasizes that the Association supports the development of both separate sanitary legislation and a national standard in the part that is not regulated by the requirements of mandatory sanitary and epidemiological rules for ready meals. The Association's experts are also currently analyzing the text of the draft GOST.
How the market is growing
The APPGA called ready-to-eat food a fast-paced trend in retail, which will grow 3.7 times in the coming years: from the current 3.8 trillion rubles to 14 trillion rubles." INFOLine mentioned other figures: the market will reach 1.14 trillion rubles in 2025, but according to this company's calculations, the growth was 20% relative to the level of 2024.
The X5 grocery retailer also told Izvestia that the category of packaged ready—to—eat food in the company's retail chains, Pyaterochka and Perekrestok, is showing high demand growth. During the year, sales increased by 34% in units, 49% in rubles and 27% in checks. Moreover, demand grew fastest in the regions: Nizhny Novgorod (45%), Yekaterinburg (41%), Novosibirsk (37%), Rostov-on-Don (33%) and Krasnodar (29%) were the leaders. Although Moscow's share in the total turnover is still the largest - 23%.
The average receipt for packaged ready meals is also growing, according to X5: in St. Petersburg - by 22%, in Kazan and Moscow — by 18%, in Yekaterinburg — by 15%.
Why do I need a definition of ready-made food?
Pavel Shapkin, Chairman of the National Consumer Protection Union, believes that regulating the ready-to-eat food market for consumer safety is even more important than regular food products from stores, since their shelf life is measured not in days, but in hours. Moreover, the market is actively developing, and risks for consumers are growing.
— First of all, it is necessary to give clear definitions of what it is. For example, whether deep—frozen products, salads requiring dressing with sauces, slicing cheese and sausages, fruit plates, etc., apply to ready meals," he told Izvestia. — It is necessary to prescribe the rules for the manufacture, sale, packaging and delivery of such products, including from cafes, pizzerias, restaurants, and kitchen factories.
According to Pavel Shapkin, the main attention should be paid to hygiene, quality control, shelf life and responsibility of each participant in the ready-to-eat food supply chain. It is necessary to take into account the rights of consumers to refuse, refund, compensation for late delivery and non-compliance with the rules.
X5 noted that the "ready-to-eat" category is still regulated by the SanPiN and GOST, focused on culinary products. However, they do not take into account the specifics of the production of ready-made food. In particular, there are no requirements that ensure its safety: mandatory maintenance of the cold chain, the availability of consumer packaging that protects products from external influences, compliance with sanitary standards during production processes, etc.
At the same time, X5 notes that there are already guidelines from Rospotrebnadzor 2.3.0371–25.2.3. for the production and sale of ready-made food.
— According to these recommendations, a ready meal is a dish produced and hermetically packaged industrially. Access to it is impossible without violating the integrity of the packaging. The prepared food is intended for sale through retail chains and catering establishments for consumption without additional preparation," the company explained.
Sergey Belyakov, President of the Association of Manufacturers and Suppliers of Ready—made Food, stressed that ready-made food is a completely different type of product compared to cooking and traditional food products.
— It has a number of key features, such as the completed industrial production cycle in the kitchen factory, the mandatory availability of consumer packaging, ready for use without subsequent refilling, and mass distribution through retail chains or delivery services. These features make the prepared food category unique and require a separate approach to legal regulation," he explained to Izvestia. — The definition will eliminate ambiguity and disputes regarding the belonging of a particular product to a particular food category.
According to him, the ready-to-eat food market needs its own sanitary legislation, which will be mandatory for participants, as well as a national standard "as a soft regulatory act complementing sanitary rules and regulations."
At the same time, regulation of the ready-to-eat food market "will have virtually no effect on its cost," says Sergey Belyakov.
— The cost of maintaining high quality standards has long been taken into account by conscientious suppliers in the price of products. Therefore, the introduction of new regulation will not lead to significant changes in the price segment of ready—made food," he is confident.
According to him, it will also reduce potential administrative barriers and reduce the likelihood of situations that lead to additional costs. For example, now a manufacturer has to incur additional costs trying to meet the quality and safety requirements set by various retail chains, which may differ from each other.
— Manufacturing companies are currently in a state of legal uncertainty, afraid to invest in infrastructure development and launch new production facilities due to the risk of violating future requirements that are not yet known. Therefore, the establishment of uniform rules of the game will create predictable conditions for manufacturers and will become an impetus for the development of the industry," Sergey Belyakov emphasized.
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