MOSCOW, April 21Russians continue to eat Italian pasta — the Barilla and Maltagliati brands entered the top 5 of the market in the country in monetary terms, although Barilla has partially frozen its activities in the country, while consumers increasingly prefer to order such products on the Internet, according to research company NielsenIQ.
At the end of May last year, the President of the Association of Italian Entrepreneurs in Russia (GIM Unimpresa) Vittorio Torrembini told the agency that Italian business, despite pressure from the West, is not going to leave Russia and leave such an attractive market. 
Thus, the NielsenIQ report notes that over the 12 months (up to and including March 2024), the dynamics of offline sales of dry pasta slowed down both in monetary and physical terms. “In retail chains, it decreased by 2.1% and 1.7%, respectively. At the same time, a year earlier, pasta sales volumes also decreased (minus 5.1%), while in monetary terms the category grew against the backdrop of rising prices,” — says the study, based on measuring sales in more than 150 retail chains across the country.
However, “the decline in offline retail is accompanied by a sharp increase in the online channel,” where part of the sales of pasta flows. Over similar periods, their dynamics grew at double-digit rates, especially brightly in physical terms over the past year (plus 59.8%).
“As for the key players in the category, their list has not changed over the past year. In total, the top 5 brands account for 78% of sales of the total pasta turnover (plus one percentage point compared to the same period a year earlier). <…> Over the past year, the leaders of the list, private label products (private label – editor’s note), have lost their share of sales in favor of branded products,” the study adds. In general, the top 5 brands also included Makfa, Shebekinskiye, Barilla and Maltagliati. 
The SI Group company is one of the leaders in the pasta market and the largest distributor of grocery products in Russia. It was formed in October 2009 as a joint venture between Gruppo Colussi, one of the leading Italian pasta producers, and the InfoLink group, a manufacturer and distributor of pasta in Russia. The company's product range includes brands such as Maltagliati, Shebekinskiye, Pasta Zara and others. Last year, its net profit amounted to 3.377 billion rubles compared to 186.153 million in 2022.
Barilla is one of the world's largest pasta producers, based in Italy. The Russian subsidiary Barilla Rus LLC has been operating since 2001 and has factories in the Moscow region and Ufa. In the spring of 2022, the company decided to “suspend all new investments and promotional activities and not profit from its presence in Russia until further notice.” In 2023, the net profit of the subsidiary amounted to 1.327 billion rubles compared to 1.131 billion a year earlier.