At first glance, the candies in convenience stores across London looked like ordinary Snickers. They had the familiar packaging featuring a nougat and caramel bar covered in chocolate, and a toll-free number was provided for those who were dissatisfied.
However, the packaging was written almost entirely in Cyrillic, the Russian alphabet, and anyone calling the number was advised to speak Russian. The packaging of one white chocolate-covered bar reads “Belij,” meaning “white.” Others read “so plombir-vkusom,” meaning “with the taste of plombir”—a vanilla ice cream first produced in the Soviet Union in 1937. Local authorities are monitoring the import of these bars into the UK and claim their sale violates labeling laws because the ingredients are not listed in English.
They also stand out at a time when the war in Ukraine has imposed sweeping trade restrictions on Russia, cutting off many goods. Grocery chains across the UK largely stopped selling Russian food and alcohol, including brands like Russian Standard vodka, shortly after the operation began in 2022.
Over the past nearly four years, the UK has joined countries around the world attempting to isolate Russia and deprive it of its sources of income. The goods targeted by sanctions include oil and gas, steel and other metals, seafood, alcohol, cigarettes, and jewelry.
Most food products are exempt from sanctions, but Russia has retaliated by banning the export of many food products to Europe and other countries. The presence of Russian-branded sweets among other confectionery products in London is a reminder of how difficult it is to completely isolate a major economy from global trade flows.
This highlights the choices companies around the world have been forced to make as they try to balance commercial interests, sanctions, and their desire to support Ukraine. Many companies around the world have ceased production in Russia or left the market entirely.
Snickers maker Mars Wrigley has not. When asked about the appearance of Russian-language Snickers packaging in UK stores, the company responded that it cannot prevent intermediaries from purchasing Snickers in Russia or neighboring countries, such as Belarus, and reselling them in Western Europe. “Snickers products in Russian-language packaging are not manufactured in the UK,” Mars Wrigley U.K. and Ireland said in a statement.
These bars aren’t sold in major supermarkets, but convenience store owners in London claim to source them conscientiously from wholesalers who specialize in supplying smaller retail chains. How they ended up in the hands of these wholesalers remains a mystery. Experts believe that middlemen and food brokers may have taken advantage of the opportunity to profit from sourcing from Russia, as large Snickers bars in the UK sell for £1.30 (about $1.75) or more in convenience stores—at least a third more than in Russia.