Updated 10:19 | Posted 10:10 am
The storm surrounding Marabou causes the leaders of Mondelez to react.
In an internal email, European managers complain about the unfair treatment.
At the same time, Ukrainian authorities respond in Aftonbladet.
“Your gains in Russia are literally our losses”.
In recent weeks, more and more companies have boycotted Marabou. The popular chocolate brand is owned by the global food giant Mondelez, which last year had sales of over SEK 300 billion globally.
In that context, Marabou is a small mouthful. But that does not mean that the recent storm has gone unnoticed. The news agency Reuters has read an internal email written by the company’s European manager Vinzenz Gruber with the title “A note about the Nordics/Russia”.
Regrets: “Very sorry”
In the email, the European manager complains that the company has been treated unfairly in the Nordics with the recent boycotts. He is “very sorry about what is happening”.
“It is difficult for us to see our company singled out and treated differently from other competitors”.
According to Gruber, several of their competitors also have operations in Russia and thus it is unfair that the spotlight has been directed at them. If consumers had been consistent and boycotted everyone, it would have led to big problems.
“If all brands that have parent companies operating in Russia were boycotted, there would be problems with the food supply”.
However, he does not mention any specific brands or companies.
The same argument in Sweden
Gruber’s argument is very reminiscent of the one that the company’s Sweden manager Martina Flemström put forward in a debate article in Aftonbladet, where she asks if people realized how much would disappear from the shelves if the boycott were extended.
“But at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if these actors realize how many goods they need to exclude if they are to be consistent. The summer ice cream, the crisp sandwich, the traditional Christmas must and even the nappies are at risk of disappearing,” she wrote in the debate article.
Ukraine thanks Sweden
But now the Ukrainian anti-corruption authority thanks Sweden and defends its blacklisting of the food giant.
“Thank you also to all the organizations that have taken the brave step of boycotting Mondelez products. Your commitment makes a big difference.”
Mondelez still operates three factories in Russia.
“All the taxes that your subsidiary Mondelez Rus has paid contribute to Putin’s war chest that finances repeated bombings against us,” writes Agiya Zagrebelska, head of the sanctions department at the anti-corruption agency in Ukraine in a response to Martina Flemström.
For the time being, Mondelez and thus Marabou will remain on the list of international war sponsors, she announces.
“Your gains in Russia are literally our losses”.