SAN DIEGO -- There are "fantastic" opportunities for U.S. produce marketers to export fruits and nuts to Russia, according to Matthew Tripodi, client relations manager for Euromonitor International in Chicago.

Speaking at a workshop Monday, Oct. 23, during the Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit, here, Mr. Tripodi told attendees that the outlook for U.S. exports to Russia is expected to nearly triple by 2010, with fruit and nut exports topping $125 million. Apples, pears, grapes, stone fruits and grapefruit will "lead the way on that," he said.

In the nut category, he said that there is growing demand for almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios.

There will also be growth opportunities for exports in the vegetable, root and tuber category, but they will be much more modest, with dollar volumes expected to top $5 million. "Potatoes are going to lead," he said, but other vegetables such as onions, carrots and cabbages "are really going to help drive exports, too."

Russia's population is declining, he said, but the population of the major metropolitan areas of Moscow and St. Petersburg are remaining relatively stable due to inflow from other areas. Those cities, which account for a combined total of about 11 percent of Russia's population, consume nearly all the imported products. "Moscow is estimated to consume around 90 percent" of the goods Russia imports, he said, and most of the rest is consumed in St. Petersburg.

Roughly 75 percent of the goods Russia imports come into one port in St. Petersburg. "It is not like this is a spider web of confusion," he said. It is "a simple road map."

Opportunities for increased exports of fruits, nuts and vegetables to Russia are being spurred by "surging GDP and rising disposable income," he said. "Consumers now have money" and are interested in buying commodities that they could not previously afford and that were not previously available.

But Russia has agricultural limitations, Mr. Tripodi continued. "So they have to look outside - to you." Russia is "really poised to be a great market for U.S. exports."

Retail development in Russia is "helping to popularize fruits and vegetables" by offering produce in greater variety, higher quality and with better reliability of supply. Those are all things at which U.S. producers excel, he said.

Mr. Tripodi said that while it is true that the phenomenal growth expected in the export market is "from a very small base, it is phenomenal growth nonetheless, and because there aren't a lot of participants in the market, for those people who are willing to step in, there are some great benefits and opportunities there."

The few exporters currently in the market are seeing a fantastic adoption rate, he said, and those results are being achieved "with hardly any marketing at all." Yet Russian consumers respond to marketing, merchandising and promotion, he said. So "for folks that are going over there, I encourage you to have some sort of marketing initiative" to promote U.S. products.