Bashkiria will develop regional brands through agricultural cooperation development

The branding development has a very high potential in the republic - both in terms of national traditions and its characteristics.

The following are considered as republican brands: Bashkir Goose, Bashkir Cheese, Bashkir Kazylyk (horse sausage), Bashkir Kumis (mare's milk), said Deputy Prime Minister of the republic's government Ilshat Fazrakhmanov on Thursday during the discussion panel "Diversity of Russian food: promotion and support of regional food brands" within the framework of the business forum 22nd Russian agro-industrial exhibition "Golden Autumn - 2020".

"Today, the small business occupies a little more than 11% in the structure of gross agricultural output in Bashkortostan. This is about 6.5 thousand peasants (farmer) households, 347 agricultural consumer cooperatives, and about 500 thousand personal subsidiary plots", said the Minister of Agriculture.

"On the initiative of citizens, we began to build a mechanism for the so-called income-generating projects: on the initiative of citizens, an object of collective use is being created. State support is provided in the form of a grant on a competitive basis. The grant's size can be up to 3 million rubles per cooperative, subject to co-financing of at least 9%. "

Today, three years after the beginning of the active development of cooperation, only 347 agricultural consumer cooperatives are registered in the republic, of which 166 agricultural consumer cooperatives produce food products. In 2020, 31 agricultural consumer cooperatives were registered, with a total number of 196 shareholders. The total number of shareholders in Bashkortostan is 10 447 people.

As a regional brand, "Kumis of Bashkortostan" began to develop in 2018. Today it is one of the leading producers of kumis and mare's milk-based products; in 2019, it processed 140,000 liters of mare's milk. As a result of the fruitful work, "Kumis of Bashkortostan" has united 13 horse breeding farms and is successfully selling kumis "Bashkir traditional." The main production is located in the territory of the Yumatovo sanatorium. The main partners and consumers of the project's products are the members of the Bashkortostan Sanatoriums Association: the Yumatovo, Yangan Tay, and Zelenaya Roscha sanatoriums. Kumis can be found in regional retail chains, cafes, and restaurants with a national flavor.

On the issue of kumis supplies, we were contacted from Kazakhstan, Krasnodar Territory, small pilot deliveries began to Nizhnevartovsk, the Deputy Prime Minister explained.

Another regional brand is kazylyk - a traditional horse meat sausage considered a delicacy. One of the most active cooperatives focusing on traditional horse meat sausages is the "Ecoprod" agricultural enterprise, which was founded in 2017. It consists of 10 members: three farms and seven private household plots. This year, the cooperative has produced 15 tons of finished products.