Half of the shelves in retail establishments must be occupied by food products from Kazakhstan. This was stated by the Minister of Trade and Integration, Arman Shakkaliev, during a visit to retail networks in Almaty, as reported by the Kapital.kz business information center, citing the ministry's press service.
The Minister discussed a number of established commitments. One of these is the requirement for special signs reading "Made in Kazakhstan." An important tool for supporting domestic producers has been the legislative empowerment of the ministry to provide state support to entities in internal trade. This measure allows retail establishments that have received state support to commit to expanding shelf space by 20%. Now, at least 50% of the shelves must be filled with food products from Kazakhstan, and no less than 20% with non-food items, which must also be placed in visually and physically accessible areas.
“We have strengthened the requirements for the quality and placement of goods to eliminate consumer deception. For instance, products must be placed according to the principle of product adjacency: milk should not be next to dairy drinks, and butter should not be near spreads,” added Arman Shakkaliev. The Minister also suggested organizing exhibitions of goods from domestic producers in shopping centers in Almaty to draw consumer attention to quality and affordable Kazakhstani products. Almaty has 11 major retail chains and over 3,500 convenience stores, and these initiatives will help increase the availability of local producers' products on store shelves.
Arman Shakkaliev emphasized that Kazakhstani products make up a significant portion of the overall assortment of retail networks in Almaty, with socially significant goods such as dairy products holding a particularly high share. For example, 97% of dairy products on the shelves of Almaty stores are produced in Kazakhstan.
“We are actively working with Kazakhstani farmers and producers to supply our retail networks with their products. Almost all vegetables in major retail chains are sourced from Kazakhstani farmers. An important step is also increasing the share of other socially significant products, such as poultry meat and vegetable oils, produced in our country,” the minister stressed.
The ministry noted that major retail chains in the southern capital have a sufficient quantity of vegetables, made possible through direct purchases from Kazakhstani farmers. One retail chain in the city has over 500 tons of vegetables in its warehouse, while one of its stores holds 7.5 tons.
It is worth recalling that earlier, against the backdrop of the potato situation in the domestic market, the Ministry of Trade and Integration announced the readiness of retail chains to purchase 1,500 tons of potatoes directly from farmers, organizing the transportation of the products from the farms themselves.
Since the beginning of the year, regional departments of the Trade Committee have already conducted 20 regional commissions to identify unproductive intermediaries, during which 49 violations related to the maximum trade markup of 15% on potatoes as a socially significant product were detected.