Barilla ready to invest €130 million in the Russian market

Barilla is preparing to make a €130 million investment in Russia for the construction of a new production site and the first durum wheat mill in Eastern Europe.

The chosen location, the Stupino Quadrat Special Economic Zone in the heart of the Moscow metropolitan area, has already attracted 27 foreign investors from around the world. It is strategically located just 40 kilometres from the airport and close to Moscow’s most important road and rail links.

The investment was prompted by the growth in pasta consumption amongst Russia’s middle classes. The Parma-based brand is the third most popular pasta in the Russian market as a whole and the number-one brand in terms of value in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Based on the latest available financial figures, Barilla’s sales in the country grew by 16% in 2018. The group has long been operating in the Russian market, where it began selling pasta in 2009.

Following rapid growth, in September 2015 the Parma-based company built two new production lines at its Solnechnogorsk plant, where it was already producing sauces, breads, bakery products and biscuits under its brand name Harry’s Cis.