Residents of central Russia are switching en masse to cheaper public catering and ready-made food from shops, according to the central bank's October report "Regional Economy". In the capital region, for example, the growth in the number of establishments in a traditional format has slowed. At the same time, companies continue to actively invest in the production of culinary products, the regulator notes.
In the country as a whole, during the first 9 months of 2026, sales of prepared food increased by 27% in monetary terms and by 19% in physical terms compared to the corresponding period last year, the analytics company NTech reported. The main contributors to this trend were hot and cold drinks, as well as snacks. The expert named the "food by hand" format - packaged products weighing up to 150 grams - as one of the main sources of growth.
Sausage sales rose the fastest - by 163% in rubles and 143% in physical terms. For hamburgers, these figures were 80% and 83%, for onigiri - 60% and 71%, respectively.
The main place to buy prepared food remains convenience stores. At the end of 9 months their share reached 62.2% compared to 60% in the first half of the year. The average bill for such products was ₽193, the press service of the research holding ROMIR reported.
The increase in demand was also confirmed by retail chains surveyed by Izvestia. At VkusVill, prepared food sales rose 8 percent year-over-year in January-October, the company said. The share of cooking in revenues reached 16%, and the number of receipts with such dishes increased by 9%.
Lahat reported an increase in sales in this category by 20% in monetary terms and almost 18% in physical terms. The demand for packaged culinary products has increased by more than 50%, the network added.
At X5, prepared food sales rose 19% year-on-year in July-September, the group's press service noted. In terms of the number of dishes sold, rice porridge (811 thousand), borscht (599 thousand) and chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes (502 thousand) were at the top of the list. Onigiri and sandwiches are also very popular.