Grocery stores in Moscow (and from what I’ve read, it seems like stores throughout the rest of Russia too) will have something one day, and then never have it again. They frequently run out of common things and won’t get more in for weeks on end. You also need to make sure to check expiration dates super closely, because the product turnover rate is so low (especially in hypermarkets like Ashan.) I’ve never had to check an expiration date in-store in the US before, even in the biggest stores! The whole situation drives me absolutely up the wall, so I have done a little bit of research to try to figure out what is going on.
There are 5 main reasons that supply chain is so bad in Russia
- Russia is enormous
- Russia is corrupt
- Poor transport infrastructure development
- Not enough storage facilities
- Poor professional logistics culture
From: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284747022_Designing_FMCG_and_Retail_Supply_Chains_in_Russia
In the United States, you can get any fruit, any time of the year. The downside is that this is not only expensive, but pretty bad for the environment. Constant shipping and movement costs and wastes add up if you want access to things grown around the world. Russia isn’t great about protecting the environment, but at least they do tend to stick to fruits and vegetables that are actually in season!
I set out to find out ~WHY supply chain here was such trash, but then I realized that just knowing the reasons why doesn’t actually solve anything for me.
The only “solutions” I can give are to get to know more than one grocery store and be willing to hunt down the stuff you want when one store is out, and if you see something you want, buy it right then, because you’ll never see it again.
It sucks, but it seems like that’s just the way things will be in Russia until someone figures out how to move products around more efficiently!
Finding Eden 