The boss of German chocolate manufacturer Ritter Sport, Andreas Ronken, has defended his company’s decision to remain active in the Russian market despite Ukraine’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“Russian children also like to eat chocolate,” he told Focus magazine on Thursday.
Many Western companies withdrew from the Russian market after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
However, despite occasional sharp criticism, Ritter Sport has continued to do business in Russia. Russia remains the company’s second largest market.
Ronken argued that the war would not be won by imposing restrictions on food products, including chocolate.
“Our decision was the right one and I would do it again the same way,” said the CEO.
He also pointed to potentially major consequences for the company if it were to shut down its operations in Russia, including major layoffs at the company’s headquarters in the southwestern German city of Waldenbuch.
“If we had gone there, we would have had to lay off 200 people at the Waldenbuch location,” Ronken told the magazine.
Ritter Sport has previously justified the decision to stay in Russia by pointing to the impact on production, which would ultimately also affect cocoa farmers in West Africa, Central and South America.
The company instead announced that it would stop making additional investments in the Russian market, stop advertising there and donate profits from Russia to humanitarian aid organizations.
