Public Catering Services Market Genesis in Russia

To assess the current status and preconditions of quality service changes in catering, in our opinion, it is advisable to make a genesis study of the catering market services in Russia, with singling out the key factors and characteristics of service quality. Russian public catering, as an activity, has a long-standing tradition. In the process of formation and establishment catering branches have undergone multiple changes. Throughout the historical period evolution of public catering enterprises was marked by different assessments due to the impact of many factors. In our opinion, for an objective assessment of the quality of service provided to the population by Russian public catering enterprises in a retrospective review it is advisable to rely on relatively short historical periods. In Russia public catering enterprises, which sold both culinary products and alcoholic drinks, appeared only in the early 18th century. The first official document regulating activities of public catering enterprises was published in 1835. Public catering enterprises’ activity was seen as accompanying services in provision of housing. The conception of “restaurant” as a high class catering enterprise without being connected with provision of housing services was legally formalized in 1894. Currently, Russia is among the five largest European countries in terms of turnover of public catering, standing behind the UK, France, Spain and Germany, at the same time the culture of consumption continues to grow; the population acquires a stable demand in eating outside. Nevertheless, in terms of per capita turnover in food industry Russia exceeds similar indices only of Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Romania. The study highlights the key factors which influence of quality of serving customers and essential characteristics of quality service peculiar to different stages of catering formation and development as a branch of economy. A content analysis shows that the level of service quality at different times is not a static parameter and is subject to changes depending on the development degree of the catering industry in a particular historical period. It is worth noting that in the current period Russian catering market has huge development prospects, especially the statement is fair in relation to regions