How Russia has replaced Western brands | Business Beyond 

It was a missed oppurtunity when they failed to rename starbucks as TSARBUCKS

This is the rant of an ex-boyfriend who dumped you and doesn’t want you back, but hates the fact that you moved on and are thriving.

Забавный факт: когда ушла Кока-Кола, в России появилось 15 видов Кока-Колы, а оригинал по сути не уходил😂

The reality: McDonalds - "sold" their chain for undisclosed price to their partner who was operating all McD joints in Siberia with the clause to get everything back by a first demand (a basic trust scheme). Coke, Pepsi - have just renamed their products sold in Russia retaining all their property and factories. IKEA - closed their stores but have kept all the malls they owned that were giving them 80% of profit. All former IKEA locations are not rented to anyone else and just kept "temporarily closed" (for now). KFC, Burger King, Subway, Apple, Mars, Heinz, Nestle etc. havent made even slightest changes to their businesses in Russia. "Company exodus from Russia" is just a PR stunt.

If you abandon a business and someone takes it over, you can't blame them. The original brands were not pushed out, they made a choice to leave.

For local business guys, there couldn't have been better time than this conflict. Buying already established business and building upon that is the lottery of the century.

I currently live and study in Moscow. I was mostly disturbed by the démission of Zara. Although, it’s been a while I didn’t shop there as the quality is quite poor. When they left, it was still weird, because Zara always felt like a backup plan. Now I have to shop more wisely. There is a large amount of amazing Russian brands that sell original and great clothing, but the price is naturally a little higher. I have observed that I have bought and consumed much less clothing this past 1,5 year, but the items I got are better and I wear them multiple time. So for me it was a big change toward thoughtful consumption, which I is great for my wallet, wardrobe and the planet

I, as a Russian, will only say this: Even if you try to forbid us to buy something, you will not succeed. In addition to large brands, there is also a local one, which is better than global ones

If you decide to not sell me your products, you’re loosing money. Not me None will never die for not eating big mac or drinking starbucks cofee 😏

Chill DW , the Russians are losing McDonald's and you're losing German industrial base

The majority of Western brands just sold their business to proxy companies, changed their names, and continued working in Russia as before. Other companies with "slow" management, like Ikea, terribly regret their decision.

It’s incredible how DW avoided the word China, in this 20minutes long video investigation. Top notch journalism!

I am from Moscow. To be honest, this comedy with the "withdrawal" from the Russian market is like an entertaining puzzle. You see how this or that department in the Mall closed, but suddenly after a while it opened, but the brand is already in Cyrillic or another name but the same colors and style, or, for example, Adidas and Puma stores closed, but after a while they a store "sporting goods" was opened in the place, in which this is all sold. Dozens of Chinese car brands have poured into the country, but you can buy any Western car from a dealer. Everything has gone up in price. You can call it a circus.

The trademark aspect is difficult because McDonalds are not the only one with a 3 burger sandwich, Starbucks are not the only ones to sell coffee, IKEA are not the only ones to sell furniture, none of these companies, outside of their brand name own the rights to to their products. This why in the UK, you can buy similar looking products because similar looking is not an infringement on the trademark. All this show is that if people invest in their own country, you don't need global companies to take your money and transfer it to another country.

So, as someone originally from and now living in Moscow, I can say for sure: VERY FEW left the market. We still have evening here. Most products were and are still produced here in Moscow so it’s really just a change of packaging. So companies were sold for $1 that means the company has an opportunity to buy it back working 5-6 years for the same price. And they are going to do this: Russia is too big of a market to loose for everyone. So clothing brands (Hello Poland!) haven’t even changed the names of their chores, it’s ridiculous So, that’s it. Everyone is just pretending they’ve left the country when in fact they didn’t and have no intentions of doing so.

This is a win win situation for Russia, they can now develop their own brand which is what the large corporations tries to prevent.

Most of those brands are things ANYONE can make. They are just an exercise in marketing! Who can't make burgers and coffee?! It takes absolutely nothing to open a coffee shop or a burger joint. The strength in brands like McDonalds and Starbucks for decades has been only 1 thing: Great marketing! The product itself is nothing special and certainly things anyone can make! The epitome of most western brands (especially USA ones) is summed up in the movie Air: Its about the marketing and not the quality of the shoe. Also, there is irony as in the case of other brands, like Apple (that proudly say at the back of the device "Designed in the USA and Made in China") where a MacBook Pro in Moscow this August 2023, costs LESS that one in the US or EU! Some people may wish that Russians will be miserable because there is no "real" Starbucks or that Russia will collapse because there is no McDonalds and Zara, but that is just wishful and naïve thinking.

I live in Russia and I am very surprised by this whole circus. All these brands are not really gone - it looks like a farce. Small consumer goods have become somewhat more expensive, but not critically. The only thing that has gone up a lot is shoes from major brands like Adidas and Nike. For example, in 2021 I bought a pair of Reebok sneakers for $40, and in 2023 the same sneakers already cost $100. Also, many brands continue to work. For example, Milka or Mars chocolates have not disappeared anywhere and new flavors often come out. And the French Leroy Merlin works as before and probably thrives after the fictitious departure of Ikea. They left only as a furniture seller, but their shopping centers are working as before. In general, this is all hypocrisy.

открою вам секрет - большинство людей в России смеются над теми, кто заказывает через интернет кока-колу из Грузии или бежит в Икею находясь на отдыхе в Турции. Поскольку большинство понимает, что кока-кола, которая сейчас называется иначе, производится на абсолютно тех же многочисленных российских заводах Кока-колы, по абсолютно тем же рецептам. И понимает, что Икея - это шведский бренд, но не менее половины товаров в её ассортименте в России были далеко не шведского производства, а российского, китайского и из других стран, и что эти товары по-прежнему продаются здесь. Есть люди, которым нравится бренд, особенно если это бренд из другой страны. Эти люди выглядят в глазах большинства, как папуасы с карго-культом (не хочу обидеть папуасов таким сравнением).

I am Russian. Came back here after two years abroad. Concerning food chains that left I am using now other Russian stores. The taste is delicious, food menu is also better I feel. As a Russian customer I am satisfied.

This is good news for local business to bloom, create own brand and less dependence on western companies.

Brands that betray their customers for political issue should never be protected.

This feeling, when I did live in Russia (6 years ago), I didn’t use any of those brands 😂🙈 in Russia plenty very good quality local brands… yes price is higher but I would say better. And now living in Cyprus I don’t like Zara definitely and don’t like ikea and Starbucks is very bad coffee for this money. So, yes it’s funny when people make out of this tragedy). What is worry me, is something different… the situation in the world not stable at all.

to pull out from the Russian market because of pressure from US politicians was the worst nightmare big brands found themselves in.

Hot dogs, hamburgers, and coffee are the most common fast food. For ordinary people, it is optimistic even if the trademark label is replaced, but the taste will be the same.

Just to be fair, there's probably some anxiety from Western brands about losing market share and messaging principles to lookalikes, especially if the lookalikes continue for a space of time and become more established or improved upon.

Я, как русский бизнесмен, безумно благодарен западным компаниям за уход из России. Такое количество свободных ниш, просто подставляй карманы. Великолепно

Hi from Russia! The only 2 things I really miss are cheap fast flights to Europe and Visa cards.

The brands don't care if they're selling product. The withdrawing from Russia was just for public opinion. You can be darn sure they missed the revenue they lost, so if Armenia is suddenly buying lots of iPhones, they're ecstatic. You have to marvel at how quickly the rebranding took place. There's a million little details, from signage and packaging, to uniforms, to sourcing raw ingredients - all that seemed to happen overnight. Russia did what Americans dream of - replacing imported with domestic.

In Thailand, Pizza Hut increase very expensive brand fee, So owner cancel Pizza Hut and change to Pizza Company brand. So Pizza Company brand is very popular. Pizza Hut almost lost from Thai market.

It's a funny film. Actually, all Americans living in Russia said that Russian products much better , healthier than in EU and even in America. Well, anyway I prefer clothes made in Russia.

McDonalds and Starbucks leaving is no great loss. Hopefully they leave the rest of us Europeans too.

Europe can only dream of such a gift as Russia received. It is simply impossible to oust such a giant monopoly as McDonald's and its analogues from the market. No way, never. Because of this, small businesses and private, domestic entrepreneurs and brands suffer. In 1990-2000, there were a huge number of domestic brands in Russia. In 2000-2020, they were all supplanted by huge American and European monopolies, which, due to economies of scale (when, due to the quantity of products produced, it is possible to reduce the cost of its production and, as a result, reduce the prices of similar goods on the market, bankrupting small entrepreneurs), occupied almost the entire market RF. Now, I see how domestic brands, which I have not seen for a very long time, are blooming again. As for McDonald and other companies, many of them COMPLETELY transferred production to the Russian Federation. All equipment, meat production, hides, machines, factories. Due to the scale of the Russian Federation and its remoteness from Europe, they not only opened points in a distant country, but also opened all supply chains there. Thus, in order to produce a burger (for example), the Russian Federation does not even need to purchase its components in the West. All components (completely identical) are produced in the Russian Federation. If earlier, McDonald's (for example) paid only tax to the Russian Federation, and sent most of the profits from the Russian Federation, now, all profits remain within the Russian Federation, which makes it possible to increase wages, create new jobs in supply chains, and so on, and so on. Imagine that you have a company that produces money. And this company (with a full supply chain) operates on the territory of a certain country. Later, you decide to punish this country. And as punishment you're like, "I'M LEAVING!" And the country is like: “OK, in that case, I’m taking away your printing press and the entire production chain for money.” This is not a punishment, this is a golden shower-) I don’t know how much the American and European elite had to degrade to carry out such an epic shot in the foot. This is what will definitely go down in the history books as one of the most mediocre and ridiculous episodes of incompetence among politicians.

I think it's better for Russia,those western brands mostly produce in China or elsewhere. Rich Russians can get their western brands on holidays. Very good move for local businessmen.

Самое смешное, что фермы и фабрики, которые принадлежали McDonald’s в России, так и продолжают работать, выращивая картошку и тд и коров для бургеров, просто поменяли название и упаковку 😂Совершенно ничего не поменялось, продукцию не привозили из за границы, это все производилось и производится сейчас тут) кока кола как бренд ушла, но владельцы колы и бренда добрый(добрый был давно выкуплен владельцами колы) просто решили назвать эту же кока колу как ДОБРЫЙ КОЛА и поменять этикетку на добрый кола😅 а льют ту же колу, что и раньше , там том же заводе ) икеа так себе по качеству и ничего трагичного не случилось с ее уходом. За одежду не переживайте, мы все одеты 😂

Ikea hasn't produced furniture in Sweden for a long time, in Russian Ikea furniture was from Russia...

Well Russia is it's own country and can discount American patents. In fact they could have kept the original names and there is nothing America could do. Become fully independent of their own country and use whatever name they want even the original names. Countries do not have to abide by other countries patents, people chose to go along with it. Russia may actually find this liberating and realize they can cut their ties to the American stronghold. I'm Canadian by the way and considered geographically American of thee America's. I wish other countries would do this without sanctions. Do it themselves. And it's only criminal by the person who declares it as such. If Russia by it's own declaration decriminalizes things then it's not criminal. Russia law and not American law which it should have been to begin with.

**Average online shopping experience** People outside Russia: "Hmm.. Should I buy Coke or Pepsi?" People in Russia: "Should I buy British Coca-Cola or Georgian Coca-Cola?"

The West: let's boycott Russia....what can they do? Russia: Hold my Fancy cola

Why not show the effects on the Western brands for losing such a large, rich market in Russia???

Russia: We used your trademarks, so what? Sanction us? 😄 The west: whatelse can we sanction?🤔

Russia running low on potatoes is the most ironic thing I've ever heard

Great to see smaller brands taking over.

Once the "brand" betrayed their loyal customer and leave due to foreign politics pressure, you will forever lose that customer for life. Its not just self sanction it rather self destruction because some politicians back home tells you what to do.

Once you have lost your brand to a domestic one you are very unlikely to retrieve it as consumers will have got to enjoy the look, taste or whatever it might be of the local product and probably be beaten on price. As an example In countries where a copycat cat brand was developed and is able to outsell a well known product like McDonalds is in the Phillipines where the local Jolibee brand reigns supreme.This is partly due because Jollibee was able cater for local tastes as well as being cheaper. But I doubt whether relations between Russia and the West will recover for a long time even if the war ends soon.

The "we have McDonald's at home" meme just became real.

Most of the goods not related to technology are manufactured at factories in Russia. And the fact that the company left Russia means that they just temporarily transferred their factories to Local companies, of course, with the right to buy/return their production (as I know, Renault and McDonald's did this)

Finally time for them to expand their own economy and not fill pockets of western corporations

Я просто напомню, что ни один из брендов Россия не выгоняла. Ни одной фабрики не закрывала. Все ушли "сами" под давлением понятно кого, под угрозой прямых, вторичных и прочих санкций со стороны США. Немецкому народу пламенный привет.

Wish all sanctions countries would have the same mindset to replace all brands like this rather than depending on western countries

This boycott is the most ridiculous thing ever either way, no country ever has been boycotted like this before.

As a Russian, I can say that it were some jokes and sadness at the beginning of leaving of brands , but now we just don’t care and if we want some Nike shoes, we will just buy them from Kazakhstan

I am Russian. I cry everyday because I can't have a yellow M on my burger and there is no ZARA in my local mall. I think I suffer more than anyone! Please, send McFlurry, ASAP! I love Ikea so much, that I am wiling to sell you Harkov or Kiev for just ONE Ikea table!

As Russian from Vladivostok I must say that our KFC is still better than American. And I enjoy it almost everyday. Never actually lived up to McDonald's hype. Never liked it. Tried once they opened. Still prefer burger King and KFC. And of course our pizza is far better

🇷🇺🇷🇺Russians are most loved by Indians🇮🇳🇮🇳 Come to India and see how much we love you

"Something has to be done to enforce this!" What are you going to do, sanction them??? 🤣

My grandmother always says never depend up on others. Stand in your own shoes.

They are not missing anything. Like in Brazil, McDonald and Starbucks doesn't make profit, because the Brazilians have the best food in the world, the fast-food is like homemade food, everything is fresh, fruits, vegetables, coffee....they have everything. They don't need junk, and they don't like it. They know what is good.

Massive win for local investers

Well, as a russian middle class person I can admit that sanctions didn't really affect on me except for Ikea... I miss it... (and of course prices for gadgets became higher, but they are still affordable)

The only thing I miss about IKEA is swedish meatballs.

Must be really hard to find recipes for cardboard tasteless burger patty. I bet they have to settle with real meat instead.

I am from Russia and I can say that the same Coca Cola has not left because before the cola in the Russian Federation belonged to the company Kind and this company made juice also it belonged to bonaqua bonaqua water not as it did not change but the brand of Multifruit llc changed this company now owns the company good bonaqua and so on and good produces cola that is, they just changed and did not leave

Low quality food is gone, what a loss...

There's no special difference. The materials are mostly sourced locally, and the cooks are local. It is all in the head. This is good for the local economy. Self-sanctioning of some common goods is suicide to one party and a blessing to the locals.

This is the best thing that happened to Russia to develop its own brands in the short run and expand to the world in the long run. Asia & Africa markets will be the future for them and it seems they are on track. In the short run they will struggle but in the long run it will make them self-sufficient. Good example is India & China. Look at how their own brands/products have developed in last 10 years to world class.

Washington DC is finding out that sanctioning Cuba and Venezuela is easy. But sanctioning Russia, not so easy. And in some respects, the vassal nation of Germany is finding out that abiding by US sanctions hurts it more than the intended target. Time for German politicians to get a backbone and operate in their own best interests.

It is always good to support local brands...now in middle east many are not biying from Western brands.. They are supporting local brands.

Отношусь к среднему классу. За исключением Икеи не жалею ни об одном ушедшем бренде. В Икее закупала массу дешёвого бытового ширпотреба, миленьких интерьерных мелочей и т.п. Было удобно, но не больше. Сейчас поняла, что эти же вещи можно приобрести у других, отечественных производителей. Мебель - да, наша дороже, но и часто долговечнее. Ладно, про Икею всё. Что касается макдака, колы, пепси и т.д., ни один человек, которого я лично знаю, не пострадал от их отсутствия и ребрендинга. Просто потому, что либо вообще их не употребляли, либо употребляли настолько редко, что отсутствие продукта не заметно в повседневном рационе. Мне вообще странно, кто может быть настолько зависимым от этого джанк-фуда, чтобы страдать даже от изменения вкуса, не то что от пропажи продукта с рынка. По поводу одежды: тут, конечно, где-то ощущается печаль, но, ходя по магазинам, я вижу много качественной одежды, обуви и аксессуаров. Возможно, те, кому важно щеголять лейблом, те расстроятся, но они и раньше спокойно катались в Милан на распродажу. Я за этикетками не гонялась никогда в жизни. Костюмчик должен сидеть, быть удобным и к месту. А эти потребности вполне покрывает параллельный импорт, турецкий трикотаж (очень, кстати, качественный) и отечественные молодые дизайнеры. Спортивная обувь у нас печальная, надеюсь, нагоним, а вот уличная (туфли, сапоги, босоножки) очень даже хорошая. Питерская колодка, словно мягкий тапочек. Так что своими силами и с помощью реальных партнёров Россия пройдёт через все западные санкции и бойкоты не моргнув и глазом.

Here in Italy we under no sanctions and yet Starbucks cafes/shops are incredibly rare

The main lesson to learn here is the illusion of international brands being important. The days of international corporations are coming to an end, and instead, an emphasis of regional and local brands will be far more important.

насчет возможного возвращения иностранных брендов. если например сейчас вернулся бы макдональдс то ему пришлось бы думать как вытеснить с рынка его сегодняшний российский заменитель - "вкусно и точка". потому что она практически такая же как макдональдс. вместо кока-колы появилась "добрый кола" и сейчас когда в магазинах есть и то и то я покупаю "добрый кола" - она вкусная), удачно получилось у местного производителя заменить оригинальную колу.

And for Russian culture, in its core, it is shameful to be emotional about consumption of brands.

So we barred them from having junk food and low quality furniture? I mean, isn't the joke on us??? I would in no way be opposed if McDonalds and Starbucks was kicked out of the US, at least for a few years...

Not mentioned in this video but one of the biggest changes in Russian consumer behaviour has been the move to Chinese cars. China has been a huge beneficiary of the sanctions. Russia is by far its largest export market for vehicles.

I would like to see McRussia in Brazil soon. Or Russia Fried Chicken. Honestly, if it was similar and for a better price, I wouldn't buy the originals anymore.

I live in a high developed agricultural region in Russia and buy only our Russin food. As for clothes a lot of Russian internet shops have appeared and this year I have bought more new dresses than ever before.

They didn't say that some brands sold their business to Russian men with a contract saying that they can buy it back later.

I am so happy for Russia. They made up for the Western brands very quickly giving equal opportunity for other companies. Good for them. 🇷🇺

Let is be clear that Russia did not force these companies out or asked them to leave. They all followed the orders of the US and EU. A decision that was based on emotion. I am sure those companies that pulled out are now regretting their decisions, despite others are expressing to miss them. Russia will come out strong. The whole world is not against Russia.

Good to see Russia develop its own local brands. A humble beginning but surely they can establish their new brands in the times to come.

What do you expect? The demand is there. Their evacuation gives opportunities for locals to create, promote, and improve local brands and make them internationally recognized and accepted..

When Western brands left, I thought that my life would change a lot for the worse and it would be like with Cuba. But almost nothing has changed in my life. Coca-Cola is sold in any store, iPhones are cheaper in Russia than in the USA. Yes, there are some problems with paying for some Western services, this causes some inconvenience. And now we have to buy Chinese cars. Basically, these are all the changes in my life.

Here in india we had Abibas for Adidas, campa cola in place of coca cola etc since very long time😂

the thing is people adapt to new situations and reality. That's human nature of survival and thrive.

I was wondering - how can Coca Cola and McDonalds be a good thing? With obesity hitting record high (in USA, obesity is expected to hit 50% within 7 years from now) - would it not be a good idea to say no to fast food (regardless of their origin)?

Glory to Russia 🪆🇷🇺🇷🇺❤️

These names are gold! World of cubes, Donutto, Crunchy Dream, Tasty and that’s it 🤣 US comedy writers on strike are clearly plying their trade coming up with these

I don't even go to starbuck There are so many local coffee shops

I feel like you missed an important point in this report - many Western brands have rebranded themselves and did not leave the market, or sold their brands under conditions that they will be able to reclaim their business (i.e. McDonald's is rumored to be able to buy their assets back within the next 10-20 years). So in multiple cases, these 'replacement brands' are operated by the same people, and under the same standards as before the war, just under a different name.

It is especially funny to see online products placing embargo for Ru segment. It surely saved me tons of money to just use them for free. Usually my consciousness nagged me to buy stuff but since I cant do...

Lost opportunity for Russia to have named Starbucks to Tsarbucks.

I was slightly confused watching this because (most of) the "original" brands were filmed at locations in Berlin, which I felt I recognised but didn't expect to see in a video about Russia. Took me a moment to realise that he was simply there for the visuals, and this is not a spooky case of "I feel like I've seen these Russian places before but I never set foot in the country!"

This santion brought a fortune for the Russia. Russia's local business is now booming than ever.

Lol. The majority of brands who “left” just renamed themselves and returned in 2-6 months. Groceries and fizzy drinks changes formulas by 1 gram and returned to the supermarket shelves under different names. 😅

That bloke saying 'This is not McDonald's' in the sulkyiest way is the best McDonald's ad I've ever seen. Imitation is the best form of admiration.

If there's ever a mass exodus of Western brands against a country it deemed an enemy, Russia can simply export these brands instead

This is a better thing ever happened to Russia. It doesn’t mean things will just kick up smoothly but over time things will getting better those western brands they have lose the big Russia market for ever and it’s a big loss for them

As a citizen of Russia, the only things I miss are Zara, Bershka, and H&M. But on the other hand, I don’t want McDonald’s to return because “Tasty. And That's It” is much tastier in my opinion, and looking at the daily queues in these enterprises, I’m not the only one who thinks so

Massive Win for the local businesses 😊