Russian Turkey Meat Sales Rise 17% to 42,000 Tonnes in First Half of 2026
Turkey was the fastest-growing meat category in Russian retail in the first half of 2026, with volumes up 17% to 42,000 tonnes and value up 22% to 27 billion rubles. Over the same period pork steak sales fell 24.2% and beef steaks 7.5%, while chicken fillet added 5.2%. Price and product composition are the main drivers behind the shift.
Turkey meat has become the fastest-growing meat category in Russian retail, with sales rising 17% year on year in the first half of 2026 to 42,000 tonnes, according to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. In value terms the segment expanded 22% to 27 billion rubles, a faster rate than volume growth and an indication that average prices rose alongside demand.
Turkey was the only meat category to record double-digit growth in the period, Pravda.ru reported. Chicken fillet, still by far the largest category by tonnage, grew 5.2% to 325,300 tonnes. The steak segment moved in the opposite direction: beef steak sales fell 7.5% to 6,700 tonnes, while pork steaks recorded the sharpest decline of any tracked category, down 24.2% to 11,200 tonnes. Izvestia also covered the shift in consumer meat demand over the same period.
Price gap drives the switch
Price is the first factor behind the reallocation of household spending. The average retail price of poultry meat reached 604 rubles per kilogram in the period, while beef rose to 983 rubles per kilogram, according to Pravda.ru. That leaves beef more than 60% more expensive per kilogram than poultry, a spread wide enough to move volumes in the steak segment, where the two compete most directly for the same meal occasion.
Composition is the second factor. Pravda.ru cited low fat content and high protein levels among the reasons consumers are selecting turkey, positioning it against both red meat and processed alternatives. The third is assortment: processors have extended turkey well beyond fresh cuts into sausages, snacks and convenience products. That expansion helps explain why value growth outpaced volume growth by five percentage points, since processed lines carry a higher price per kilogram than raw cuts and lift the average basket without requiring shoppers to buy more meat by weight.
First-half volumes by category
The retail picture for the first six months of 2026, as reported by Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Pravda.ru:
- Turkey: 42,000 tonnes, up 17%; value 27 billion rubles, up 22%
- Chicken fillet: 325,300 tonnes, up 5.2%
- Pork steaks: 11,200 tonnes, down 24.2%
- Beef steaks: 6,700 tonnes, down 7.5%
Growth continues into autumn
The trend did not stop at the half-year mark. Between 1 and 10 September the number of turkey purchases rose 9% against the same period a year earlier, according to Pravda.ru, indicating that the category held its momentum into the third quarter, after the summer grilling season when pork and beef typically perform best.
Per capita consumption remains low. The average Russian consumer eats about three kilograms of turkey a year, a fraction of chicken consumption and a level that leaves room for further volume growth before the category approaches saturation. For producers, the combination of a wide price gap against beef, a 24.2% contraction in pork steak demand and a still-thin consumption base points to continued headroom, provided processing capacity and the retail price gap hold.
The figures also set a benchmark for the rest of 2026. With chicken fillet growing at 5.2% and both beef and pork steaks contracting, turkey is currently the only meat category in Russian retail adding both volume and value at double-digit rates.
