“Stolichnaya” is divided by the spill – Newspaper Kommersant No. 244 (7445) of 12/30/2022

FKP Soyuzplodoimport, which owns the Stolichnaya vodka brand, plans to launch other alcoholic beverages under the Stoli brand. The company has already filed an application for registration of a new trademark. Yury Shefler, who is suing FKP for the rights to the Stolichnaya SPI Group brand, has already renamed her vodka Stoli after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.

FKP Soyuzplodoimport on December 23 filed an application with Rospatent for the registration of the Stoli brand for classes related to the production of soft drinks, beer, and strong liquor. Among these products are brandy, vodka with different flavors, whiskey, gin, liqueurs, tinctures.

The vodka brands Stolichnaya and Stolichnaya are among the key brands in Soyuzplodoimport’s portfolio. The stamps were the subject of litigation with Yuri Shefler’s SPI Group, whose structures issued Stolichnaya abroad. As part of the dispute, in early 2020, the Dutch Supreme Court recognized FKP as the owner of the Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya brands in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. And at the beginning of 2022, Soyuzplodoimport announced the registration of the Stolichnaya and Stolichnaya brands in Georgia. After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, which was accompanied by a boycott of Russian vodka in some Western countries, the structure of the SPI Group Stoli Group announced the renaming of Stolichnaya to Stoli. The Stoli Group did not answer Kommersant’s questions.

Soyuzplodoimport told Kommersant that they see the development of the portfolio of alcoholic beverages not only within the framework of vodka, but also in other directions, focusing on market trends. In this regard, the company is considering the possibility of releasing a product line under the Stoli brand in other categories. The FKP added that they own the Stoli graphic trademark, but the products planned for launch may differ from it, so the decision was made to register the Stoli word trademark in order to strengthen the brand as a whole.

Against the backdrop of restrictions on the import of alcohol into the Russian Federation and the departure of some foreign brands, local producers are actively increasing the production of drinks and expanding their range. So, according to NielsenIQ, in the first nine months of 2022, 36 new whiskey brands, 20 new gin brands and 20 liqueurs and bitters appeared in Russia. Whiskey bottling, according to market participants, is growing by more than 20% year-on-year, and sales of some brands have increased significantly.

Stanislav Kaufman, the owner of the Kaufman agency, notes that Soyuzplodoimport has previously discussed the possibility of using the Stoli brand for the production of strong drinks, such as whiskey. The Stolichnaya brand is feminine and is strongly associated with vodka, which is why it is poorly suited for other alcohol categories, he says. In addition, adds Mr. Kaufman, Stoli is much better perceived by foreign consumers. And Anatoly Semenov, deputy chairman of the RSPP Committee on Intellectual Property, notes that additional trademark protection can also help FKP to create obstacles to the sale of new Stoli Group vodka in Russia if it hits the market.

Soyuzplodoimport has already tried to expand the use of the Stolichnaya brand. So, in the catalog on the Soyuzplodoimport website there is Stolichniy cognac. Judging by the description on the online storefronts of retail chains, the drink was produced by the Simferopol winery, but the drink could not be found in stock. And in 2016, Soyuzplodoimport agreed with the Belarusian fish processor Santa Bremor on the production of preserves from herring Stolichnaya Herring. This product is available in part networks.

CIFRRA Director Vadim Drobiz doubts that Soyuzplodoimport will be interested in exporting new products, given the bans on the supply of Russian alcoholic beverages in the largest EU and US markets. And in Russia, there may be potential for the development of the Stoli brand, given the recognition of Stolichnaya, he believes. On the other hand, the expert continues, previous experiments with brand expansion cannot be unequivocally called successful.

Anatoly Kostyrev