Experts of the National Agency for Price Policy (NTSTS) made up the top-10 products, the price of which has doubled or more over the past two years. As reported by the MC, the leaders of the rise in price were black pepper peas, buckwheat and garlic.

The top ten food inflation leaders are: garlic, buckwheat, black pepper, nuts, dried fruits, frozen vegetables, black tea, salted herring, chilled and frozen fish, chocolate. The absolute leader was garlic, which, since 2014, has grown by 156.4%. At the same time, the trade margin for it is a record 900% - at a selling price of 1 kg of product at a level of 30 rubles in the capital supermarkets, garlic costs 250-280 rubles per kilogram.

Buckwheat takes an honorable second place since the price doubled in 2014 due to a crop failure. The second jump in prices for buckwheat was recorded in 2016 due to increased demand. As the head of the NACP, the leading expert of the consumer market Stanislav Cherkasov, explained, retail chains inflated the price of buckwheat in order to avoid its shortage.

At 120%, black pepper has risen in price, which comes to Russia mainly from Vietnam and Mexico. According to the expert, the reason for the sharp jump in the price of spices was the aggressive speculative policy of these countries, as monopolists.

Prices for nuts, dried fruits and tea, traditionally imported into Russia, also significantly increased in 2014 and 2015, which is explained by the fall in the ruble.

Prices of fish from August 2014 on average in Russia increased by more than 80%. More than double the price of such species as salmon, trout, cod and carp. Record growth in prices for chilled and frozen fish is recorded in the Stavropol Territory: for two years it has risen more than three times - from 270 rubles to 860 rubles per kilogram. However, fish has risen in price even in such fish regions as the Far East and the North-West. At the same time, the trading margins on this product can reach 500%, although the difference in regional selling prices does not exceed 10%. The Russian fish market has a paradoxical situation: the share of imports has been steadily declining in recent years, domestic production in Russia is increasing, but prices are rising steadily. For today, fish caught in domestic waters is more profitable to sell abroad than to supply to the domestic trading network.

According to Stanislav Cherkasov, as the needs of the domestic market remain unsatisfied, the prices for fish do not decrease. Unfortunately, fish is becoming a delicacy for Russians, and this applies not only to salmonids, which were previously available to the average buyer, but also inexpensive fish.

The list of chocolate price increase recorders completes. Since 2014, the price for it has grown by 72%, as the price of cocoa beans, which are the main ingredient in the production of chocolate, depends on the fluctuation of currency rates.

Fortunately, not the entire food basket of Russians steadily becomes more expensive. Some products even fall in price, although not much. The traditional borscht set - potatoes, onions, beets, cabbage and carrots - is steadily becoming cheaper, reducing the overall level of food inflation, which at the end of 2016 was only 5.4%.

However, a significant contribution to the good behavior of the birch set for the consumer made a refusal to import. There are almost no foreign potatoes on our shelves since 2015, and the price for domestic potatoes is no more than 1-1.5 rubles per year (3-6%). Hence the effect of deflation. Exactly the same pattern is observed for the remaining products of the vegetable group.