Vodka wars -- brands battle for 'best Russian vodka' title
Fri Apr 7, 2:36 PM ET
Two top vodka brands exchanged angry accusations on Friday over which had the lucrative right to call itself Russia's best vodka, with the famous Stolichnaya brand refuting charges from Russian Standard that it was not really a Russian beverage at all.
"Stolichnaya brand vodka is not authentically Russian," Russian Standard, a consumer goods and financial services company that produces a vodka by the same name, said in a statement distributed to media.
It said the Stolichnaya-branded vodka sold outside of Russia was not the vodka known in Russia under that name for more than 500 years but was instead a concoction produced in Russia and shipped in bulk and under a different name to Latvia where it was then bottled and labeled.
These vodkas "were based on different recipes than the recipe for Stolichnaya vodka," the statement said, adding that "Stolichnaya's marketing messages are inaccurate and misleading to vodka consumers" and that "Stolichnaya is not authentically Russian."
Pernod Ricard, the French beverages giant that controls the Stolichnaya trademark outside of Russia -- in Russia it remains state property -- angrily dismissed Russian Standard's charges, describing them as "gravely dishonest."
"Pernod Ricard confirms that Stolichnaya vodka is an authentic Russian vodka. It is distilled and produced in Russia ... from Russian grain and water. It is then shipped to Latvia in bulk where it is bottled," the company said in a statement.
Pernod Ricard said it was examining "all necessary legal recourse" to fight the charges by Russian Standard.
The rights to use the Stolichnaya brand have been contested in the past.
Earlier this month, a US court rejected a complaint from the Russian government over the use of the Stolichnaya brand in the lucrative US market.
While vodka called Stolichnaya has existed in Russia for centuries, the Russian Standard brand only began appearing on store shelves in 1998.
It has however had huge success in Russia, where it controls around 67 percent of the market for quality vodkas.
Fri Apr 7, 2:36 PM ET
Two top vodka brands exchanged angry accusations on Friday over which had the lucrative right to call itself Russia's best vodka, with the famous Stolichnaya brand refuting charges from Russian Standard that it was not really a Russian beverage at all.
"Stolichnaya brand vodka is not authentically Russian," Russian Standard, a consumer goods and financial services company that produces a vodka by the same name, said in a statement distributed to media.
It said the Stolichnaya-branded vodka sold outside of Russia was not the vodka known in Russia under that name for more than 500 years but was instead a concoction produced in Russia and shipped in bulk and under a different name to Latvia where it was then bottled and labeled.
These vodkas "were based on different recipes than the recipe for Stolichnaya vodka," the statement said, adding that "Stolichnaya's marketing messages are inaccurate and misleading to vodka consumers" and that "Stolichnaya is not authentically Russian."
Pernod Ricard, the French beverages giant that controls the Stolichnaya trademark outside of Russia -- in Russia it remains state property -- angrily dismissed Russian Standard's charges, describing them as "gravely dishonest."
"Pernod Ricard confirms that Stolichnaya vodka is an authentic Russian vodka. It is distilled and produced in Russia ... from Russian grain and water. It is then shipped to Latvia in bulk where it is bottled," the company said in a statement.
Pernod Ricard said it was examining "all necessary legal recourse" to fight the charges by Russian Standard.
The rights to use the Stolichnaya brand have been contested in the past.
Earlier this month, a US court rejected a complaint from the Russian government over the use of the Stolichnaya brand in the lucrative US market.
While vodka called Stolichnaya has existed in Russia for centuries, the Russian Standard brand only began appearing on store shelves in 1998.
It has however had huge success in Russia, where it controls around 67 percent of the market for quality vodkas.
