Salt of the Earth grows Russian salt sales

BACKED by significant sales growth in the Russian salt market in 2014, Salt of the Earth Ltd forecasts double salt exports this year.

The company entered Russia’s salt market, which is estimated at 5 million tons a year with about 1.5 million formerly coming from Ukraine, in 2012 after conducting marketing research on previous providers’ salt products and prices, and determining optimum distribution channels.

According to export manager Avi Freund, the results of the research enabled the company to determine the main markets in Russia and develop cost-effective transportation solutions accordingly to provide high-quality salt and salt ingredients.

“We signed an exclusive distribution agreement with TDS Russia. They built two packaging houses in 2013, allowing us to pack products in Russia and thus dramatically lower packaging costs,” Freund stated.

Pavel Bogolyubov, CEO of TDS Russia, added: “TDS Russia also identified niche markets in Moscow area, helping sales increase by 25% in 2013. Moreover, expanded marketing to East Russia in 2014 led to a 20% increase in sales in 2014.”

Salt of the Earth supplies high-quality sea salt to tuna and salmon processing plants. In 2014, the company succeeded in penetrating the seafood processing sector in the Vladivostok and Korsakov regions in Russia’s far eastern territory with the help of TDS.

Last January, the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) imposed a ban on salt produced by Artyomsol (Ukraine), which held about 24% share of the Russian market, according to the Russian Legal Information Agency.

“The embargo on imports of food and food ingredients from Europe created a new opportunity to increase our sales in 2015. We intend to introduce our new, innovative premium salt line to the retail market in Moscow, plus we expect further growth in both retail channels and of sodium reduction solutions to continue throughout the coming year,” Freund said.