Food consumption changes in Russia: An analysis of regional demand for herring products

In this paper, we study the effects of large income changes on the consumption of herring products in Russia. Herring consumption has shifted rapidly from low-value whole herring (WH) to high-value herring fillet products. We estimate regional herring demand using a panel data of household survey data from the seven Russian federal districts. The results show that WH is an inferior good while herring fillet products are normal goods, which implies that continued economic growth will lead to further shift towards value-added products. Furthermore, the most important factor to explain the large regional differences in herring consumption is real income disparities.