While prices for Russian potatoes are at a record low in the recent seasons, and that nation even becoming a large exporter of these tubers, Russian consumers are taking keen interest in alternative products like yams and sweet potatoes. This means that imports of sweet potatoes and yams to Russia are growing much faster than imports of other vegetables.
In 2020, while incomes in the Russian Federation dropped, the imports of these expensive tubers more than doubled. Imports of sweet potatoes reached 2.300 tons, an 120% increase. The import of yams came to 55 tons, an increase of 130% compared to 2019. Over the past five years, the imports of sweet potatoes to Russia has increased 12-fold, the imports of yams increasing 8-fold.
You can buy sweet potatoes in the capital of Russia today at retail prices ranging from 380 to 500 rubles per kg ($ 5.0-6.5 US dollars per kg). Yams are sold apiece, not per kg, because, in most cases, a yam weighs, on average, 1.5-2 kgs.
Source: east-fruit.com
Photo source: Dreamstime.com