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Local View: Even vodka abandoning Russia over its brutal invasion of Ukraine |
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From the column: Perhaps the most prominent, made-in-Latvia Stoli Vodka, "will be undergoing a redo to get rid of any connection to Russia."
By John Freivalds
Published 4/18/2022
Duluth News Tribune
Much has been written and said about the 500-plus — and counting — Western firms that have left Russia because of its beyond-brutal invasion of Ukraine. McDonald’s, Starbucks, BMW, Ford, Apple, and others have left while others like Cargill have stayed but announced its decision “to scale back its business activities in Russia and stop investment there.”
What hasn’t been talked about as much are the decisions of Russian firms to leave: The most prominent and iconic is Stoli Vodka (formerly known as Stolichnaya). Its label is seen looking down at you in every bar in Minnesota and will be undergoing a redo to get rid of any connection to Russia. And those few vodkas that are still Russian find themselves being poured down the sewers of Western countries.
This must have really hurt Russian President Vladimir Putin’s already wounded pride, even more that Stoli left Russia to set up operations in my homeland of Latvia, a former colony and now a member of NATO. Latvia is less than 400 miles from Moscow, and Russians refer to our language as “sobichi yazik,” or dog barking. However, Latvia is also the future site of a major U.S. military base. I’ll down a shot of vodka to that.
Moscow State Warehouse Number 19 says it invented the Stoli vodka recipe in 1938, using wheat and rye grain. Over the years, it overtook Smirnoff (home office Plainfield, Illinois!) as vodka’s premium brand. In 1972, Stoli was imported into the U.S. by Pepsi-Cola in a barter deal, in exchange for its concentrate and production technology. Stoli’s marketing slogan was ”Only Stoli Vodka from Russia is genuine Russian vodka.” Stoli became the symbol of Russia and was exported to 90 countries.
Russians drink a lot of vodka: 38 pints annually, with 40% of the population not living past 50! Few could afford Stoli but drank cheaper brands straight up. Americans down their vodka in fancy mixed drinks like cosmopolitans, bloody Marys, screwdrivers, Moscow mules, black Russians, vodka martinis (stirred not shaken) and on and on. The bartenders I’ve talked to said patrons usually don’t specify a brand when ordering mixed drinks with vodka.
The first splash back against Stoli came when the Soviet Union fell apart, and a fellow named Yuri Shefler bought Stoli. According to Global Trade magazine, ”There has been an ongoing vodka war; it involves threats from Vladimir Putin, charges of theft of state assets, corruption, gay rights, boycotts, international intrigue, and tax evasion.”
Shefler was expelled from Russia by Putin in 2000 and moved Stoli to Latvia. And Stoli made a point of catering to gays. Putin was aghast and claimed the brand name Stolichnaya belonged to Russia. The issue was argued back and forth but now is moot as Stoli rebranded.
As CNN reported in March 2002, “Stoli group’s founder, Russian-born billionaire Yuri Shefler, was exiled from that nation in 2000 because of his opposition to Putin. The liquor has long been marketed as Russian vodka, but its production facilities have been in Latvia since that year. Stoli Group is a unit of Luxembourg-based SPI Group. The company also cited its employees’ desire to take action and to accurately represent the vodka’s Latvian roots. Earlier this week, Stoli Group announced it would only use Slovakian sources to make sure that none of its ingredients are sourced from Russia.”
Officials in states from Ohio to New Hampshire have called on liquor stores to remove Russian vodka from their shelves. In fact, the head of Stoli America asked me to personally call the governor of New Hampshire to say that Stoli is not Russian, but Latvian-made.
Thus, you can’t escape world politics even at the local bar, whether in Canal Park or anywhere in the United States.
John Freivalds of Wayzata, Minnesota, is the author of six books and is the honorary consul of Latvia in Minnesota. His website is jfapress.com. He wrote this for the News Tribune.