Marketing research of the product range of fermented milk products in the food market

Competition in the Russian food market is rapidly increasing: new brands are emerging, the market situation is changing, the process of concluding or terminating deals with partners is accelerating, the level of uncertainty is growing, which requires a competent assort-ment policy. Therefore, an important area of product assortment management can be considered to be orientation to consumer requests, which requires identifying consumer demand through market research and analysis. The article presents the results of the conducted research of the product of-fer of branded assortment of fermented milk drinks sold in retail outlets of various types in the system of the Russian retail network of supermarkets in Orel. Data on the structure of fermented milk drinks are provided, the main manufacturers are analyzed, and product brands are identified. The analyzed market of fermented milk drinks can be characterized as saturated, the maximum share, regardless of the retail network, is occupied by kefir, yogurt and fermented baked milk. The sold fermented milk drinks can be classified into groups: kefir, ryazhenka, Snezhok, prostokvasha, yogurt, fermented milk drinks, including yogurt drinks with various fillers; by packaging type: hard (PET bottle, polystyrene cup, cardboard Tetra Pak, glass bottle) and soft (Ecolean and Fin-Pak plastic jugs); by shelf life: 5–7 days; 8–10 days; 11–14 days; 15–18 days; 19–24 days; more than 24 days; by packaging weight: up to 500 g (ml); from 500 to 900 g (ml); from 930 to 1000 g (ml); by fat content: fat-free (up to 0.9%); low-fat (1–1.9 %); low-fat (2–2.9 %), classic (3–3.5 %) and high-fat (4–6 %).