Oreo-maker faces Scandinavia boycott over Russia

Oreo-maker faces Scandinavia boycott over Russia

Swedish soldiers will soon no longer be munching on Oreo cookies after the nation's military joined a boycott of products made by Mondelez over the company's continued presence in Russia
Swedish soldiers will soon no longer be munching on Oreo cookies after the nation's military joined a boycott of products made by Mondelez over the company's continued presence in Russia. Photo: Mandel NGAN / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Empowering lives, one story at a time. Briefly News launched a YouTube channel Briefly TV. Subscribe now!

Scandinavian organisations are boycotting US group Mondelez, maker of snacks like Oreo and Toblerone, due to the group's continued presence in Russia, as Norway's government held a meeting Wednesday with several actors.

Airlines SAS and Norwegian, hotel chains, the Norwegian football federation and the Swedish military are among those rejecting products made by the company formerly known as Kraft Foods and its subsidiaries Freia in Norway and Marabou in Sweden.

In late May, Mondelez was added to a list of "international sponsors of war" drawn up by Ukrainian authorities, accused of being susceptible of financing Moscow's war in Ukraine by maintaining activities in Russia and paying taxes there.

The Swedish military therefore this week asked its suppliers to replace Mondelez products with other brands.

Read also

IMF, World Bank are key counterweights to China: Yellen

"We are doing this to be in line with our other actions towards Ukraine," spokeswoman Guna Graufelds told AFP.

Several actors, including retail chains -- none of which have joined the boycott at this stage -- requested guidelines from Norwegian authorities during a meeting on Wednesday.

PAY ATTENTION: Follow us on Instagram - get the most important news directly in your favourite app!

"Our message is clear that it is up to companies themselves to make these choices and for consumers to decide", and not up to authorities, said Halvard Ingebrigtsen, a state secretary in Norway's Trade and Industry Ministry.

Mondelez insisted it has only "limited operations" in Russia and that none of its subsidiary Freia's products are made in the country.

"Our parent company, Mondelez International, respects all political decisions and sanctions," Freia said.

Other groups on the Ukrainian list of "sponsors of war" include Auchan, Procter & Gamble, Metro, Yves Rocher and Bonduelle.

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.