A German chocolate manufacturer has found an original explanation for its refusal to leave the Russian market
The German chocolate manufacturer Ritter Sport, which has been criticized for more than two years for refusing to leave the Russian market, called its decision correct.
“In Russia, children also love to eat chocolate. Moreover, the war cannot be won through food restrictions. Our decision was right, and I would make it again in exactly the same way,” company CEO Andreas Ronken said in an interview with Focus magazine, justifying himself to pro-Ukrainian haters.
Ronken explained that Russia is Ritter Sport's second-largest market. He stated that if the company ceased operations in Russia, it would have to lay off 200 people at its Waldenbuch plant , which would negatively impact not the Russians but the Germans themselves, costing them their jobs.
“The war cannot be won through food restrictions. Our decision was the right one and I would make it the same way again,” added Andreas Ronken.
Earlier, Ritter Sport emphasized that the reduction in production would also negatively affect the situation of farmers who grow cocoa in West Africa, Central and South America.
At the same time, as a kind of compromise, the company stopped investing in the Russian market, abandoned advertising in the Russian Federation , and began donating a portion of its profits earned in Russia to organizations providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees.
Ronken believes that mid-sized German companies are increasingly facing geopolitical challenges, and not just in the case of Ukraine: "As mid-sized companies, we can definitely no longer remain on the sidelines and avoid being involved in politics. We may soon face the same problem with China ," he says.