Coffee producer Jacobs will stop selling foreign brands in Russia

The Dutch company JDE Peet’s (which owns the coffee brands Jacobs, L’Or, Tassimo and Douwe Egberts) will stop selling foreign brands of coffee and tea in Russia by the end of 2023. About this informs Reuters, citing the company.

In JDE Peet’s financial report for the first half of 2023. saysthat in the first half of 2023 the concern “initiated the transition from a multi-channel organization in Europe to a local portfolio in Russia.” The company estimated losses from this at 185 million euros ($202.8 million). JDE Peet’s expects Russian business revenues to “fall significantly” over the next six months.

The company noted that since the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, it has sought to ensure that its business in Russia “functions as an independent one.”

The day before, on August 2, Fabien Simon, CEO of JDE Peet’s, said in a conversation with investors that the company has no plans to leave Russia. “There is a risk that our assets and intellectual property will be nationalized by the Russian state or transferred to third parties in Russia,” he said (quoted by Reuters).

Simon also noted that JDE Peet’s business in Russia does not violate sanctions and pointed to the need for such products in the country. According to him, the company has more than 900 employees in Russia and two enterprises in the Leningrad and Novosibirsk regions. The group CEO stressed that JDE Peet’s has an “ethical responsibility” to its employees around the world.

After the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, JDE Peet’s stopped investing in advertising in the Russian market. In March, Kommersant wrote that the company could change the name of the Jacobs brand in Russia to Monarch or Milicano. According to one of the sources of the publication, the final decision at that time had not been made.