What will be cognac: manufacturers will replace foreign raw materials

In Russia, there is a shortage of imported distilleries that Russian producers use to produce cognac. This was reported to socialbites.ca by the head of Soyuzkonyak, Dmitry Chernev.

“There was a deficit that is still difficult to characterize with numbers. Russian cognacs are made from 70% imported raw materials – cognac distillates imported from abroad. Distillates are imported from European countries (France, Spain), neighboring countries (Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan). Almost nothing is being delivered from Europe at the moment,” he said.

According to him, there are problems with any Russian trademark. In addition, the cognac industry is experiencing a shortage of Russian grapes, which are the main ingredient of any wine production. “Practically all the grape harvest goes to the production of Russian wines, the raw material of which, according to Russian legislation, can only be Russian grapes,” said the head of the Cognac Producers Association.

According to the interlocutor of socialbites.ca, the need to solve the problem of deliveries of distilleries from France and Spain, used to produce Russian cognac, has long passed.

“Like Russian wine, Russian cognac should be made exclusively from Russian grapes. However, until 2028, the legislation allows transitional Russian cognac producers to use cognac distillate produced from foreign grapes outside of Russia in their production. From neighboring countries – Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan – operational replacement of falling volumes is planned. New deliveries could already be this summer,” Chernev said.

According to him, work on the problem of the cognac industry goes in two ways: the development of Russian viticulture, or the rapid replacement of the volume of raw material supplies, which is falling from neighboring countries, whose volumes and quality are not inferior to traditional raw materials. previously provided.

“If it is not possible to establish logistics with the supply of distillate from neighboring countries until the summer, cognac production in Russia may decrease by 30%,” said Chernev.

Russia’s largest cognac producers did not respond to socialbites.ca’s questions.

According to a source in the cognac industry, distilleries purchased distilleries from different countries and each chose the option that was acceptable to him.

“Someone else had Europeans. For example, “Alvisa” (cognacs “Aged”, “Golden exposure”) took Spanish, “Alliance 1892” – French. The Kızlyar factory has always worked on domestic raw materials. Small producers get a little bit of everything,” the source said.

In the future, according to Chernev, the problem of shortages of raw materials will be solved: in Russia there are large agricultural lands suitable for growing grapes “underdeveloped and waiting for their growers”.

The State Duma sees no problem

The State Duma Committee on Agricultural Problems told socialbites.ca that the problem is not so serious.

“Russian producers can buy distilleries in neighboring countries. No problem. And cognac is not a product of primary necessity: not bread, not water, ”explained Vladimir Kashin, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Agrarian Questions.

Elizaveta Utkina, corporate ratings analyst at Expert RA, agrees.

“In Russia, there are enterprises that produce strong alcohol from domestic distilleries in a full cycle, that is. However, foreign distillates are generally used in the production structure, which shows that the industry is highly dependent on imports.”

According to him, it is impossible to completely rebuild the market for local ingredients at once, since the development of vineyards takes time and the volumes required are significant.

“At the same time, substitution of suppliers is possible: the supply of distillates has been stopped from only a limited number of countries, in addition there are others, especially the CIS countries,” Utkina summarized.