Western sanctions due to Russia's aggression in Ukraine are prompting consumers in Russian settlements to focus solely on choosing local wines. Moreover, supermarket shelves have an increasingly less diverse price list in the selection of grape alcoholic beverages. UNN reports this with reference to Reuters.
Details
Russia once had a wide selection of French and Italian wines. However, now the filled shelves of stores are filled only with a number of domestic wines. Western sanctions related to Russia's war in Ukraine have affected the state of affairs in this industry.
Consumer habits in Russia have fundamentally changed. Prices for foreign wines have risen, and the selection of imported brands has significantly decreased.
According to the publication, sales of Russian wine now account for about 60% of the market, compared to 25% 10 years ago.
Gradually, the market began to change. Imported wines rose in price by 30-40%. Alcoholic products in the "wine" category, exclusively of local production, gained a very high market share.
Consumers in Russia are still in the process of adapting to the taste of local wines, as noted by Yuriy Yudich, head of the committee of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers on Russian winemaking.
Since Moscow's annexation of Ukrainian Crimea in 2014, Western countries have imposed more than 25,000 different sanctions against Russia. The lion's share of them fell during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Grapes have been grown around the Black Sea for thousands of years, but the hardships of wars and Soviet anti-alcohol campaigns, especially during Mikhail Gorbachev's time in 1985, destroyed many vineyards, particularly in Ukrainian Crimea.
Addition
The Kremlin authorities have repeatedly emphasized "Russia's economic resilience under the influence of many sanctions," Putin called them "illegal and unjustified," urging officials to find a way to circumvent the sanctions.
Recall
For the first time in many years, Russia has recorded a decline in food consumption in real terms. Russians ate less buckwheat, meat, rice, and drank less milk, despite the increase in monetary spending on food.
Over the past few years, Ukrainian-made wines have been rapidly integrating into world gastronomic culture and gaining popularity more and more every day. This is primarily due to the current trend for organic and natural products.