Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose join the boycott: all the supermarkets removing Russian products from sale
A number of British supermarkets have announced they will be pulling Russian-made vodkas from their shelves in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, following the country’s invasion.
Over the weekend, Sainsbury’s and British retailer John Lewis and Partners, who own Waitrose, announced they will be pulling Russian-produced stock from their shelves.
Here are all of the supermarkets that have announced changes to their stockists in light of current global events.
Tesco
On Sunday, Tesco announced that they would not be purchasing products from Russia foreseeable future. A spokesperson said that the supermarket would stop “buying products from businesses that are wholly Russian owned”.
The supermarket has become the latest in the industry to remove products like Russian vodka from sale.
Sainsbury’s
Following the mass cull of Russian products, Sainsbury’s became the latest supermarket to remove Russian vodka and other products produced in the country from sale.
The Independent reported that that supermarket stood “united with the people of Ukraine” and decided to remove all products that are “100% sourced from Russia”.
This means that Russian Standard vodka and Karpayskiye black sunflower seeds have been removed from sale for the forseeable future.
Waitrose and Partners
British retailers John Lewis and Waitrose announced that they would no longer sell products made in Russia, beginning with the removal of Russian vodka and a line of pizza oven pellets.
The partnership is currently reviewing products that have ‘components of Russian origin’ to find out what else should be removed from their shelves, Reuters have reported.
Aldi
According to reports, Aldi has also made the decision to remove Russian-sourced vodka from its shelves. It is unclear whether other products will be removed in the future.
Asda
Reuters released an announcement that Asda would also be withdrawing Russian products from general sale.
The statement read: “Britain’s Asda has followed other UK supermarket groups in removing products originating from Russia from its stores and online following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
According to the BBC, Asda’s announcement means that around 100 products will be removed from their stores. The list contains mostly spirits, but does also include fish and some sweet brands too.
Morrisons
Last week, Morrison’s announced it had delisted Russian Standard vodka and will no longer be selling the brand for the foreseeable future.
Other vodkas not made in Russia, such as Swedish Absolut, Latvian Stoli (formerly made in the Soviet Union but no longer tied to Russia), and British-owned Smirnoff, are not affected by the decision.
A spokesperson for Morrison’s said: “We have taken action on our vodka lines including de-listing Russian Standard. The product is longer available on our website and no further stock will be bought.”
The move by Co-op and Morrison’s follows similar decisions made across the hospitality industry in recent days, which has seen the prominent Northern bar group Arc Inspirations pull Russian-made vodka from shelves at its venues BOX, Banyan and Manahatta.
Co-op
A spokesperson for the Co-op said: “In response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and as a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine we’ve taken the decision to remove from sale Russian-made vodka.”
They added that the decision was taken due to the fact that the brand was “overtly marketed as being Russian” and is produced in the country.
Marks and Spencers
Marks and Spencers has halted all shipments to its Russian franchise stores, most of which are based in Moscow and operated by Turkish franchise partners, leaving shelves empty in 40 shops across the country.
As the conflict wages on, there continues to be a commercial and cultural backlash against the shocking invasion from across the West as corporations and event organisers intensify state sanctions imposed by the British government and its NATO allies.
Bars and Restaurants
Wetherspoons also joined in this week, making the announcement that it would no longer sell Russian beer ‘in light of the current situation’.
Wetherspoons has since removed Russian lager Baltika from all 870 of its UK pubs, sending any stock they had previously ordered back to the distributor.
The beer is produced in St Petersburg, which just so happens to be the birthplace of Russian aggressor and dictator Vladimir Putin – who has recently launched a full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
“As of today all those beers won’t be available in any Wetherspoons pub and either have been or are in the process of being returned to the Carlsberg distributor.
“We are not implying in any way that anyone involved with the brewery is directly involved with what’s going on but we thought in light of the current situation our pubs don’t want to be serving Russian beers.”
Arc Inspirations, owners of Leeds-based bars Manahatta, Banyan and The Box, also banned the use of Russian vodka across their venues.
Read more: Leeds-based bar group bans all Russian drinks from its venues
Arc said: “To show our support to the people of Ukraine we will no longer be pouring any Russian vodka in any of our bars.”
They said: “We cannot remain neutral while our friends in Kyiv are under attack by a dictator’s army with no basis in international law and no protection of human rights.
Bundobust co-founder Marko Husak has also urged people to follow in Arc Inspiration’s footsteps by banning products.
I’ve had quite a few messages from my colleagues in the restaurant, bar and beer industries asking if there is anything that they can do to help, so I’ve suggested that they can help by stop stocking Russian products. pic.twitter.com/OftnuQOjai
— Marko Aleksandr Husak (@BundobustMarko) February 26, 2022
He posted: “I’ve had quite a few messages from my colleagues in the restaurant, bar and beer industries asking if there is anything that they can do to help, so I’ve suggested that they can help by stop stocking Russian products.
Several cultural bodies have also taken a stand against President Putin, including UEFA pulling its Champions League final out of Russia, and the F1 cancelling its Sochi Grand Prix.
Russia has now also been banned from competing in the Eurovision Song Contest, amongst other competitions.
Feature image – WikiCommons