Russia was left without cola at all, as well as without 7Up and Mirinda: Pepsi left the country's market

PepsiCo Inc (PEP.O) has ceased production of Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain Dew in Russia almost six months after the US company said it would suspend sales and production. Reuters.

Photo: IStock

The Pepsi announcement comes after Reuters visited dozens of supermarkets, retail stores and gyms in and outside Moscow and found cans and bottles of Pepsi with production dates in July and August at factories in Russia.

The most recent Pepsi product date is August 17th.

In a statement to Reuters, the American company said it had stopped production of concentrates for PepsiCola, Mirinda, 7Up and Mountain Dew in Russia.

On the subject: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania closed their borders to Russians

“Subsequently, all concentrates in Russia were used up and production ceased,” a PepsiCo spokesman said on September 8. These were the first public comments on the matter since the company announced in early March that it was suspending production, sales, promotions and advertising in Russia.

A spokesperson said this was "in line with the announcement we made in March 2022" but declined to comment when asked for an update on sales and whether they had been halted.

Continued production means that sodas are still widely available in Moscow, as well as Vladivostok in the Far East and Krasnoyarsk in Siberia, according to a Reuters review.

The West has not sanctioned food and drink as part of a sweeping measure aimed at punishing Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

But continued availability highlights the difficulty of leaving one of the world's largest countries. In 2021, Russia was the third largest market for New York Pepsi after the US and Mexico.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants, and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

Earlier this summer, stores in the capital were still selling off stocks of foreign beer, months after brewers said they would stop production.

Rival Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) also continued production in Russia after it announced it was suspending operations in March.

The company said in June that its bottler Coca-Cola HBC AG (CCH.L), a separate company, and existing customers in Russia were running out of stock, after which production and sales of Coke and other brands in Russia would cease.

In March, PepsiCo said it would continue to sell essentials in Russia, such as milk and other dairy products, infant formula and baby food. The company has been operating in Russia for over 60 years, and its cola was one of the few Western products allowed in the Soviet Union before it collapsed.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• In March, Russia was disconnected from SWIFT, countriesleft Apple and dozens of other international companies. Since the beginning of the invasion, gigantic global companies in every sector are leaving Russia.
• With the departure of Coca-Cola in Russia, they decided to produce kvass with cola flavor, while each part is consecrated by the priest.
• Even in Russia they created a kind "response" to sanctions - CoolCola, Fancy and Street with "classic flavors" of original drinks.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Russian authorities want to know what foreign students think about the war in Ukraine: polls are being conducted among them

Occupiers massively take children out of Ukraine and give them up for adoption to Russian families

The United States approved the sale of genetically modified purple tomatoes: why the red ones did not please the authorities

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