Demand for sausages is growing slowly, but steadily.

Last year, sausage lost out to other types of MEAT products in terms of demand, with production growing by only 1.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate of sausage was surpassed by semi-finished meat products (+4.7%) and even canned meat (+1.9%).

But sausage producers have their own significant achievements. For example, Cherkizovo Group, Russia's leading meat producer, increased its sales of sliced ​​sausages in the dry-cured sausage segment by 30%. Demand for sliced ​​sausages within the group is growing three times faster than demand for other sausage product formats.

Last year, the Resurs Group of Agro-Industrial Enterprises, founded by Viktor Nauryzov, invested heavily in sausages , acquiring several sausage factories. Among the largest recent acquisitions were Vladimirsky Standard, which produces over 5,000 tons of sausage and meat products per month, including deep-frozen meats, and the Tsaritsyno Group of Companies, which includes three factories with a combined capacity of approximately 10,000 tons per month. Following these acquisitions, Resurs's share of the highly competitive Russian sausage market is estimated at 5%.

Cherkizovo and Resurs, as well as some other agricultural holdings, have a clear advantage over sausage producers forced to source meat from the market: they have significant in-house meat production capacity. Resurs, for example, is the market leader in broiler meat; last year, Viktor Nauryzov's company produced 1.07 million tons. Broiler meat is currently displacing traditional pork in sausage recipes, which has become significantly more expensive: from July 2024 to July 2025, the price of pork halves increased by 30%, while the price of broilers remained virtually unchanged due to oversupply.

The ability to bypass market markups from third-party meat producers, consumer trust in well-known brands, and a well-established supply chain across most regions of RUSSIA allows agricultural holdings to outperform small and medium-sized producers, whose bankruptcy reports regularly appear in industry publications.

Experts estimate the future of the sausage market as promising, with stable growth of approximately 1-2% per year, though this growth varies significantly across product types. For example, in the first half of 2025, consumption of pâté, the cheapest type of meat product, soared by 18.4%.

According to the meatinfo portal, sausage consumption has been growing over the past six years.

Cooked sausages and frankfurters occupy the largest share of the market.

Forecasts for increased demand for sausages have every chance of coming true, as their main advantage—the fact that they're ready to eat—hasn't changed. Periodic media reports about the need to limit sausage consumption in favor of natural meat are contradicted by the need to spend tens of minutes to hours preparing the meat, purchasing sufficient seasonings and spices, and practicing the art of its preparation.

Equally important is the fact that attempts to make artificial meat (which everyone believes has the future) resemble natural meat are still far from reality. But sausages can be made with almost anything. Some experts claim that modern technology makes it possible to make sausages without meat at all.

Is this good or bad? Nobody knows. Doctors insist that humans need animal protein, even though millions of thriving vegetarians seem to have proven otherwise.

Pork rind, which manufacturers include in the recipes for all cheap sausages to reduce costs, and which nutritionists reject for its excessive fat content, turns out to be even beneficial due to its collagen content, which improves skin structure.

You can add almost anything to sausage, just like to Irish stew, making it almost medicinal, if that's the goal.

Regardless, demand for sausages will grow overall, albeit slowly. For their producers, exports may prove the most promising market . Russia has already become a major player in the global meat market. In 2024, meat exports from Russia increased 1.3-fold, reaching 820,000 tons. Viktor Nauryzov's company increased poultry and processed product exports by 25.5% over the year, reaching 182,000 tons, supplying its products to sixty countries worldwide.

Domestic producers exported only 55,000 tons of sausages, or 2.2% of total production. This year, EXPORT volumes are expected to increase significantly. For example, ABI sent its first shipment of 10 types of sausages under the "Vyazanka" brand to the United Arab Emirates. Chelyabinsk producers delivered a 1.2-ton marker batch of sausages to Uzbekistan . Exports of sliced ​​sausages for pizza making and ready-to-eat pizza with the popular pepperoni are considered promising.

There are over 400 known varieties of sausage worldwide, and likely many more if you include local varieties. So, no matter what nutritionists say about sausages, they won't be able to curb people's curiosity to try them all with variety.