Toblerone still sold in Russia even as Mondelez nixed imports

By Jessica DiNapoli

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russians are still indulging in foreign-made Toblerone chocolate, according to internal sales documents seen by Reuters, showing the difficulty of U.S. manufacturer Mondelez's plan to isolate its business in the country from its global operations.

Facing continuing pressure from employees, activists and investors to leave Russia, Mondelez planned to make its business there "standalone with a self-sufficient supply chain" by the end of last year. It told Reuters in February that products in Russia were made and distributed locally, with "no imports of finished goods from Europe into Russia or exports from Russia into Europe."

But, high-end Toblerone chocolate is made in Switzerland and Slovakia, and the sales documents viewed by Reuters indicate that 100 tons of it were sold in Russia in the first four months of this year, although volumes were down 12% from a year earlier.

The continued sales of the triangular chocolate bars, a shape reminiscent of the peaks of the Swiss Alps, show the challenges of removing Russia from the rest of Mondelez's business.

Food including chocolate does not fall under the multitude of sanctions imposed by Western countries aimed at punishing Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Since then, many companies have pledged to either exit the country or sell or wall-off their Russian operations.

Mondelez said in a statement that it is possible that "branded products could be entering Russia through third-party distributors or brokers," grey market importers looking to capitalize on demand for Western brands that retreated after the war.

Russia previously said it would allow imports without the trademark owner's permission.

BILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS

The country remains a significant part of Mondelez's business. The company's revenues in Russia accounted for 2.9%, or about $1 billion, of its $36 billion in global sales last year.

Reuters found Toblerone bars on shop shelves in Moscow and St. Petersburg with packaging saying they were made in Mondelez's factory in Bern, Switzerland on November 23. A 100 gram bar was for sale for 175.99 roubles ($2.02 U.S. dollars).

To stop third-party distributors or brokers from selling Toblerone in Russia, Mondelez could file lawsuits against them and retailers stocking the chocolate in Russian courts over trademark infringement, said Peter Maggs, a research professor at the University of Illinois College of Law and expert on Russian law.

"For the poor company, it's like a whack-a-mole system, if there’s a demand, various people will be bringing the stuff in," Maggs said. "Unlike bringing in narcotics, you’re not going to get stopped at customs" for chocolate.

"It’s really up to the company to enforce it," he added.

Mondelez declined to provide additional comment.

In another bid to separate Russia, Mondelez earlier this year appointed a new general manager to lead the country as a "standalone organization" but he reports to another executive who reports to the president of Europe.

The Russian business and its employees are also still entangled in some ways with the rest of Mondelez. A source familiar with the matter who is not authorized to speak to media and could not be named said that Mondelez's Russian business still uses the company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a central planning tool.

The source also said that Russian employees working for the Russian business also attend meetings with employees from other regions.

PROFITS DOWN

The internal sales documents show that Mondelez's gross profit and net revenue on Toblerone in Russia fell in the first four months of this year compared to the same time last year.

Revenue on Milka chocolate in Russia is up 5.2% in the same time period, according to the documents, while volumes and gross profit on the cheaper chocolate brand have fallen.

Mondelez manufactures Milka in its factory in Pokrov, located about 60 miles east of Moscow, according to a translation of its Russian website.

Mondelez said last June that it was expecting volume and sales declines in Russia in part because it stopped advertising and launching new products there.

Mondelez's Russian business is still top of mind for some of its investors. At its annual meeting in May, a little over 30% of them backed a shareholder resolution calling for the company to conduct an independent study of the risks of continuing to do business in Russia, a move the company opposed.

(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York and Reuters in Russia; Editing by Anna Driver)