An employee works on the soft drinks production line at a plant of the Chernogolovka company in the town of Chernogolovka in the Moscow region, Russia, in this photo taken on July 28 2022. Picture: REUTERS/ALEXANDER RESHETNIKOV
Chernogolovka, named after the town outside Moscow where it was founded in 1998, makes snacks, bottled water, herby lemonades, energy drinks and, since May, Cola Chernogolovka. PepsiCo suspended soda production and sales in Russia in March, one of many Western consumer brands to curtail operations after Russia sent troops into Ukraine.
“Our company was not present in the cola segment,” Sakhnina said of an area that accounts for about 50% of the market. Chernogolovka started supplying soft drinks to the Russian outlets of Burger King and KFC in April. It is in talks to do the same for Vkusno & tochka, the renamed chain of McDonald’s restaurants that opened after the world’s largest fast-food chain sold to a local licensee, Sakhnina said.
Like all Russian companies, Chernogolovka faced supply headaches after Western governments and companies targeted Russia with sanctions and restrictions, Sakhnina said, adding that aluminium lids and adhesive labels were a particular issue.