Liqueurs are sipping to Russia – Kommersant

Alcoholic companies with production facilities abroad are thinking about localizing drinks in Russia. Thus, Ladoga received a declaration for the production of Fruko Schulz liqueurs in St. Petersburg, which are produced at a factory controlled by the company’s owners in the Czech Republic. The postponement may be beneficial due to the devaluation of the ruble, but consumers are skeptical about locally produced drinks.

At the end of March, Ladoga Group LLC received a declaration of conformity for the production of Fruko Schultz Triple Sec and Fruko Schultz Coffee liqueurs, follows from the Rosaccreditation register. The strength of drinks is 40% and 20%, respectively. The place of production is the Ladoga site in St. Petersburg with a capacity of 5 million decaliters per year.

Fruko Schulz liqueurs are produced at a factory founded in 1898 in the Czech Republic. The enterprise with a capacity of 1.5 million decalitres per year calls itself the second largest producer of alcohol in the country, including liqueurs, tinctures, sparkling wines and syrups. In 2010, the plant came under the control of the owners of Ladoga, the manufacturer of Tsarskaya vodka, Barrister gin, Fowler`s whiskey, etc. The fact that Ladoga could start producing Fruko Schultz in Russia was also said by a Kommersant source alcohol suppliers.

Ladoga told Kommersant that the declaration for Fruko Schultz liqueurs was received as part of the preparation of a potential basis for partnerships between companies. The goal is to diversify the potential risks of sanctions from unfriendly countries, they say in Ladoga. They added that about 40% of the declarations received by Ladoga have not yet begun production, and their registration is the possibility of promptly launching products on the market if necessary. According to Ladoga, in the first quarter of 2023, imports of Fruko Schulz products increased tenfold, to 20,000 decilitres, and it is planned to import 100,000 decalitres by the end of this year.

There are already examples of transferring the production of alcoholic beverages from other countries to Russia after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the tightening of Western sanctions. Rustam Tariko Group of Companies, after stopping the supply of whiskey from Scotland, began producing the Darrow brand at a plant in the Moscow region, while previously the drink was produced at the Scottish distillery Ian Macleod Distillers (see Kommersant dated November 14, 2022). Mr. Tariko also owns the Italian wine house Gancia. Rust says that they do not plan to transfer the production of Gancia wines to the Russian Federation, since Asti and Prosecco are products of a specific geographical location, and transportation of sparkling wines in bulk is impossible. Drinks produced abroad are also in the portfolio of Alvisa Group – vodka Mont Blanc produced in France and Spanish brandy Alvisa. Alvisa Group did not provide a comment.

Director of TSIFRRA Vadim Drobiz believes that Ladoga will continue to produce Fruko Schulz as long as there is such an opportunity. As the expert notes, even whiskey produced in Russia from foreign distillates is perceived by the consumer differently than a drink produced abroad. The head of the WineRetail information center, Alexander Stavtsev, says that the transfer of the production of a liquor with a complex recipe to another site is not a quick process that may require additional debugging of equipment in order to preserve the organoleptic properties of the drink.

Taking into account the devaluation of the ruble, the localization of the Fruko Schulz spill would allow Ladoga to maintain the cost of the drink for consumers, which is already at a relatively high level, and increase production, adds Mr. Stavtsev. So, on the online showcase of Perekrestok, Fruko Schulz Triple Sec is sold at 1.12 thousand rubles. for a bottle of 0.7 liters, and the German brand Jagermeister – 1.79 thousand rubles. for a bottle of 0.7 liters. Serbian liqueur Gorki List in the catalog of “Aromatic World” is presented at 1.29 thousand rubles. for a bottle of 0.7 liters.

According to Vadim Drobiz, liqueurs remain a popular category on the Russian market. Demand for such drinks, including in bars and restaurants, is supporting the decline in overseas travel, he points out. According to the Unified State Automated Information System cited by TSIFRRA, in the first quarter of 2023, sales of alcoholic beverages with a strength of over 25% in stores increased by 31.4%, to 3.2 million decalitres year-on-year.

Anatoly Kostyrev