PepsiCo suspends further investment at newly-opened Russian snacks plant (2024)

FAQs

Why did Pepsi suspend their Pepsi distribution in Russia? ›

NEW YORK/MOSCOW, Sept 20 (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc (PEP. O) , opens new tab has stopped making Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain Dew in Russia nearly six months after the U.S. company said it would suspend sales and production after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.

Today, PepsiCo announced that they stopped production of Pepsi drinks, as well as 7UP and Mountain Dew, in Russia. Taking into account Soviet history, PepsiCo has operated in Russia for more than 60 years and its colas were one of the very few Western products available to Soviet consumers prior to the USSR's collapse.

Mondelez, Mars Inc. and PepsiCo Inc. had roaring sales in Russia last year, underscoring the strength of the Russian consumer more than a year after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

The Moral Rating Agency has published a list of companies, both in the U.S. and overseas, that it accuses of “moralwashing,” or making confusing statements about their involvement with Russia. The 12 companies in “the communications hall of shame” include PepsiCo Inc. PEP, Johnson & Johnson JNJ, Chevron Corp.

The Russians offered up a flotilla of 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer – worth approximately three billion dollars – in exchange for their next Pepsi delivery. The historical exchange meant that, for a brief period of time, Pepsi were the owners of the sixth largest navy in the world.

Because the Soviet government was perpetually short of convertible, or “hard”, currency, it often resorted to bartering for imports. Since 1972, it had bartered vodka for Pepsi syrup, which it mixed with carbonated water and bottled domestically.

In 1972, PepsiCo's CEO, Donald M. Kendall, struck a deal with the Soviet government to sell Pepsi in exchange for Stolichnaya vodka and other products that were scarce in the United States. The deal was a huge success, with Pepsi becoming one of the most popular drinks in the USSR.

How? Coca-Cola announced it was leaving the Russian market back in March 2022 as part of the global response to the invasion of Ukraine. Coca-Cola HBC, the Greek-owned company that bottled and sold co*ke in Russia, switched to a new brand, Dobry Cola.

In 1972, Kendall and Soviet officials announced a deal that would exchange equivalent values of Pepsi for Soviet vodkas made by Stolichnaya and Sovetskaya. Not only would Pepsi become the first American soft drink available in the USSR, but the deal also locked Coca-Cola out of the Soviet market.

PepsiCo and PBG began expanding their investments in Russia in the late 1990s, with the opening their first modern beverage plant and the first snack-manufacturing facility in Kashira in 2002.

When did Pepsi start in Russia? ›

Pepsi* can be credited with many "firsts" in the soft drink industry. However, one of its most notable claims is that in 1974, Pepsi-Cola was the "first western consumer product" produced and sold in the Soviet Union (Pepsi-Cola International N.d.a).

Beverage giant PepsiCo has stopped manufacturing several of its popular soda brands in Russia, Reuters reported on Tuesday, a move that comes a month after the bottler of its chief rival Coca-Cola announced it had stopped all sales and production in the country and six months after Pepsi announced plans to suspend ...

PepsiCo, Danone feature among largest revenue earners in Russia – research. Mars and Mondelez International were ranked in the top ten of companies making the largest revenue gains in 2022.

After decades of deal-making, the USSR began producing and selling Pepsi in 1971, a huge win for the company over its chief competitor, Coca Cola. To make the deal work, Kendall accepted payment in the form of vodka and, at one point, the exchange of $3 billion of battleships.

In a bizarre agreement, Russia sold Pepsi 17 submarines, a frigate, a cruiser, and a destroyer in 1989 to keep soda flowing into its citizens' mouths. With all this firepower, Pepsi indirectly became the sixth largest naval fleet in the world.

In 1972, Kendall and Soviet officials announced a deal that would exchange equivalent values of Pepsi for Soviet vodkas made by Stolichnaya and Sovetskaya. Not only would Pepsi become the first American soft drink available in the USSR, but the deal also locked Coca-Cola out of the Soviet market.

Shortly after taking possession of the Pepsi navy, the soda brand sold all twenty warships to a Swedish scrap-recycling company in order to recoup the cost of their Pepsi shipment.