Toblerone still sold in Russia even as Mondelez nixed imports
By Jessica DiNapoli
NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) -Russians are still indulging in foreign-made Toblerone chocolate, according to internal sales documents seen by Reuters, showing the difficulty of U.S. manufacturer Mondelez's MDLZ.O plan to isolate its business in the country from its global operations.
Facing continuing pressure from employees, activists and investors to leave Russia, Mondelez planned to make its business there "standalone with a self-sufficient supply chain" by the end of last year. It told Reuters in February that products in Russia were made and distributed locally, with "no imports of finished goods from Europe into Russia or exports from Russia into Europe."
But, high-end Toblerone chocolate is made in Switzerland and Slovakia, and the sales documents viewed by Reuters indicate that 100 tons of it were sold in Russia in the first four months of this year, although volumes were down 12% from a year earlier.
The continued sales of the triangular chocolate bars, a shape reminiscent of the peaks of the Swiss Alps, show the challenges of removing Russia from the rest of Mondelez's business.
Food including chocolate does not fall under the multitude of sanctions imposed by Western countries aimed at punishing Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since then, many companies have pledged to either exit the country or sell or wall-off their Russian operations.
Mondelez said in a statement that it is possible that "branded products could be entering Russia through third-party distributors or brokers," grey market importers looking to capitalize on demand for Western brands that retreated after the war.
Russia previously said it would allow imports without the trademark owner's permission.
BILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS
The country remains a significant part of Mondelez's business. The company's revenues in Russia accounted for 2.9%, or about $1 billion, of its $36 billion in global sales last year.
Reuters found Toblerone bars on shop shelves in Moscow and St. Petersburg with packaging saying they were made in Mondelez's factory in Bern, Switzerland on November 23. A 100 gram bar was for sale for 175.99 roubles ($2.02 U.S. dollars).
To stop third-party distributors or brokers from selling Toblerone in Russia, Mondelez could file lawsuits against them and retailers stocking the chocolate in Russian courts over trademark infringement, said Peter Maggs, a research professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and expert on Russian law.
"For the poor company, it's like a whack-a-mole system, if there’s a demand, various people will be bringing the stuff in," Maggs said. "Unlike bringing in narcotics, you’re not going to get stopped at customs" for chocolate.
"It’s really up to the company to enforce it," he added.
Mondelez declined to provide additional comment.
In another bid to separate Russia, Mondelez earlier this year appointed a new general manager to lead the country as a "standalone organization" but he reports to another executive who reports to the president of Europe.
The Russian business and its employees are also still entangled in some ways with the rest of Mondelez.A source familiar with the matter who is not authorized to speak to media and could not be named said that Mondelez's Russian business still uses the company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a central planning tool.
The source also said that Russian employees working for the Russian business also attend meetings with employees from other regions.
PROFITS DOWN
The internal sales documents show that Mondelez's gross profit and net revenue on Toblerone in Russia fell in the first four months of this year compared to the same time last year.
Revenue on Milka chocolate in Russia is up 5.2% in the same time period, according to the documents, while volumes and gross profit on the cheaper chocolate brand have fallen.
Mondelez manufactures Milka in its factory in Pokrov, located about 60 miles east of Moscow, according to a translation of its Russian website.
Mondelez said last June that it was expecting volume and sales declines in Russia in part because it stopped advertising and launching new products there.
Mondelez's Russian business is still top of mind for some of its investors. At its annual meeting in May, a little over 30% ofthem backed a shareholder resolution calling for the company to conduct an independent study of the risks of continuing to do business in Russia, a move the company opposed.
Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York and Reuters in Russia; Editing by Anna Driver
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務,允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容,但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限,並受以下條款與條例約束:(i)條款與條例;(ii)風險提示;(iii)完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊,僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意,我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成,也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料,僅適用於教育/資訊類用途,不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議,或是交易價格紀錄,或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容,包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接,皆爲‘按原狀’,並作爲一般市場評論所提供,而非投資建議。請理解和接受,所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容,並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性,而根據法律要求所編寫,而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊,相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。