PepsiCo ends production of Pepsi and 7UP in Russia


by Jessica DiNapoli and Alexander Marrow

NEW YORK/MOSCOW, Sept 20 (Reuters) – PepsiCo has ceased manufacturing of Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain Dew drinks in Russia, nearly six months after the U.S. company said it would suspend sales and production due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Pepsi’s announcement comes after Reuters visited dozens of supermarkets, retailers and gyms in Russia and found cans and bottles of Pepsi with printed production dates showing the months of July and August and coming from factories located in the country.

The most recent date found on a Pepsi product was August 17.

The US company told Reuters it had stopped making concentrates for PepsiCola, Mirinda, 7Up and Mountain Dew in Russia.

“All concentrates have been used up in Russia and production has ended,” a PepsiCo spokesperson said Sept. 8. These were the first public comments on the matter since announcing in early March the suspension of its production, sales, as well as promotional activities and advertising in Russia.

The move is “in line with the announcement we made in March 2022,” he said, though nonetheless declined to comment when asked to provide an update on sales and whether they had been interrupted.

Continued production means the sodas are still widely available in several Russian cities, including Moscow, according to Reuters checks.

The Moscow gym owner said he placed an order with Pepsi as recently as mid-August.

The West has failed to sanction food suppliers as part of sweeping moves to punish Moscow for its actions in Ukraine and the availability of the products highlights the complexity of such a withdrawal.

In 2021, Russia was PepsiCo’s third-largest market after the United States and Mexico.

At the start of the summer, stores in the capital were still selling stocks of foreign beers, several months after brewers announced they would halt production.

Rival Coca-Cola continued production in Russia after announcing in March that it would suspend operations.

The company said in June that its bottler, Coca-Cola HBC AG, a separate company, and its existing customers in Russia were running out of stock, after which production and sales of several brands would be halted in Russia.

In March, PepsiCo said it would continue to sell basic necessities, such as dairy products and baby food, in Russia.

(Reporting Alexander Marrow in Moscow and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; French version Alizée Degorce, editing by Kate Entringer)




Source link -91