Russia has a wide variety of breads in all price classes. On the one hand, government price control ensures that people on low incomes can buy standard “batons” (baguettes) at a cheap fixed price. On the other hand, greater affluence is giving Russians a taste for more exclusive types of bread that sell at many times the price of a baton.

While the size of the total bread market is growing only moderately, at 3–4% a year, the market for packaged bread, exclusive types of bread, cakes, and biscuits is increasing by double-digit figures. In fact, industrial bread and rolls now account for 25% of the total market and the expected growth rate in 2008 is more than 25%, according to a market report from Datamonitor. Sliced packaged bread, including toast bread, is so popular that the high prices do not discourage Russian consumers.

Quality Assurance Manager Irina Istomina (right) of the prize-winning bakery ZAO Dedovski Khleb with Irina Matveeva of Novozymes in Russia and Irina Afanasieva of ZAO Dedovski Khleb (left).

Irina Afanasieva, a food engineer in the QA department of ZAO Dedovski Khleb, is aware that consumers demand freshness when they buy a baton. Wrapping extends the shelf life and so does Novamyl®.

Russia represents one of the largest and most competitive bread markets in the world. Approximately 13 million tons of bread and rolls are produced every year according to Datamonitor, corresponding to 92 kg per capita per year.

First baking customer in Russia
One of Novozymes’ oldest and most sophisticated baking customers in Russia is the medium-sized industrial bakery ZAO Dedovski Khleb. This bakery is located in the Moscow region in the town of Dedovsk and was founded in 1970. They produce 30–45 tons of bread a day depending on the season. Their assortment includes more than 150 products.
They started using enzymes in 1994 and were actually the first enzyme customer of Pitchepromproduct, a Novozymes distributor in Russia.

“We have a very long cooperation with ZAO Dedovski Khleb that is mutually beneficial. They give us the feedback that is necessary for our deeper understanding of customer needs and this enables us to develop our business in the Russian market,” says Irina Matveeva, Account Manager for Cereal Food at the Novozymes representative office in Moscow.

Dealing with poor flour quality
When Novozymes first came into contact with the bakery, the quality of their bread left much to be desired because of fluctuations in the quality of the flour. Novozymes helped them address this issue with a fungal alpha-amylase and endo-xylanase called Fungamyl® Super AX, which has become a popular and widely used enzyme product in Russia.

“Fungamyl Super AX is used for the majority of the types of bread we produce. We use it for flour correction when using the traditional sponge procedure of dough preparation – the most common baking method in Russia. Enzymes smooth away the effect of flour fluctuations on bread quality,” says Irina Istomina, Quality Assurance Manager at ZAO Dedovski Khleb.

The traditional wheat bread has a shelf life of 24 hours when unwrapped and three days (72 hours) when wrapped. Unwrapped bread turns almost as hard as a brick after 2–3 days. ZAO Dedovski Khleb initiated an ambitious project aimed at extending the shelf life of daily wheat bread in a cost-effective way. Novamyl® proved to be the right solution, because this specific alpha-amylase has a unique effect on slowing down the staling process. Novamyl prolongs the bread crumb softness and elasticity while having no adverse effects on dough characteristics or other properties.

More and more Russians can afford better bread. These loaves are popular high-quality Easter bread sold by ZAO Debovski Khleb in the Easter season. Novamyl® extends the shelf life.

The bakery began by introducing Novamyl into the dough for the standard daily batons made from wheat. Later on, Novamyl was also introduced for more expensive types of wheat bread. The combination of Fungamyl Super AX and Novamyl gave excellent results in keeping the bread fresh due to their synergistic effects.

“We saw slower staling and lower crumbing so the bread retained its consumer appeal longer. As a result, we now have a lower amount of bread returned from the retailing network,” comments Irina Istomina.

Staling is a particularly important issue in Russia where a long cold winter with temperatures below –5 °C causes hardness in the bread.

The poor quality of local wheat results in lower flour quality, particularly in terms of the protein content. This is another reason for fast bread staling and poor crumb structure.

Staying competitive
“The majority of consumers, even those with a low income, would like to have high-quality bread, even if it means paying more,” says Irina Istomina.

The noticeable quality improvement in the bread from the addition of Novamyl allows the bakery to pass on the extra cost to the consumer. The bakery estimates that the cost of adding Novamyl represents 1–1.5% of the retail price of batons and 0.5–0.7% of the retail price of special types of bread that sell at around twice the price of batons.

Higher prices on high-quality bread usually mean higher profit margins. In contrast, the profitability is only 3–5% for standard daily bread such as batons that are subject to price control.

“Novamyl helps us to maintain a stable market for daily bread even though there is extremely tough competition,” comments Alexander Yadrovski, General Production Manager of ZAO Dedovski Khleb. The bakery has managed to increase its market share in the local area by 10–15% in the last 12 months. It is able to compete on quality and Alexander Yadrovski claims that they make one of the best batons on the market.

Tradition and innovation
The pioneering work of the bakery with enzymes was recognized in 2003. Novozymes in Russia nominated the QA Manager Irina Istomina for participation in the Best Food Ingredient Competition known as “Silver

Alexander Yadrovski, the Production Manager of ZAO Dedovski Khleb, claims that his bakery makes one of the best batons on the market.

Drop” which was held by the Union of Food Ingredients Producers in 2003. She won the main prize in the category “Science and technology” for the project to keep bread fresh using Novamyl.

The success of ZAO Dedovski Khleb is based on sticking to the old Russian traditions of bread-making in combination with using products from Novozymes with an established track record.

Pål Ladsten, Regional Marketing Manager for Cereal Food, is very positive about the outlook for the baking industry in Russia: “Russia is becoming an important bakery market for us in Eastern Europe, showing high growth in the specialty bread segment,” he says. “Russian consumers are willing to pay more for better bread, which an increasing number of bakeries take advantage of by extending their range of high-quality bread.”