Calls grow to boycott Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and PepsiCo as major firms stay in Russia

Rachel Sharp

March 6, 2022 at 1:24 PM·3 min read

Calls have been mounting for a boycott of McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo as the companies have thus far not joined the ranks of other major global firms in pulling their operations out of Russia.

Three Ukrainian supermarket chains announced they are removing Coca-Cola products from their store shelves and the hashtags #BoycottCocaCola, #BoycottPepsi and #BoycottMcDonalds were trending on Twitter over the weekend as customers vowed to shun their products so long as they continue to do business with Russia.

Dozens of big corporations including Apple and Netflix have halted operations in the country in the 10 days since President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine.

But, while many firms have taken a stand, several food and drink companies have stayed silent and refused to cut ties with Russia.

Major players including McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are now coming under increasing pressure from both political figures and social media users to pull their business from the country.

Ukrainian supermarket chain Novus said on Friday that it would stop selling Coca-Cola products – including Coca-Cola, Fanta, Schweppes and BonAqua mineral water – slamming the company as “shameless” for continuing to “work for the invaders in full strength”.

“Our supermarket chain no longer cooperates with the Coca-Cola company, which continues to operate in the territory of the aggressor,” the company said in a Facebook post.

“We are abandoning all products belonging to the brand.”

Supermarket chain Fozzy Group also said it was pulling products from shelves and stopping all future deliveries.

“From today, we are removing all products from the shelves of Silpo, Fora, FOZZY Cash&Carry, Market super Thrash (Thrash) stores and stop all future deliveries,” the company said, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Varus also joined in the boycott, citing the “official position of the Coca-Cola company to continue its activities in the market of the aggressor country”.

The boycott came after Russian state-owned media source TASS reported on Thursday that the company had pledged to keep business open in the country.

A spokesperson for Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company – the bottling company that has exclusive rights to distributing its products in Russia and other countries – allegedly told the outlet that “all operational, production, and logistics facilities of Coca-Cola in Russia are working”.

“We are fully responsible to partners, society, and thousands of our employees in Russia. Our top priority is the safety of our employees,” the spokesperson reportedly said.

The Coca-Cola Company has not denied the statement.

On Thursday, the company released a statement saying it was donating €1m to support the Red Cross movement in Ukraine as well as donations to Red Cross organizations in the neighboring nations of Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.

“While these are our actions today, we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” the company said.

The company did not mention Russia in the statement and called for “peace in the region”.

Meanwhile, neither McDonald’s nor PepsiCo have released statements on Russia’s war on Ukraine.

New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli sent a letter to several major companies including McDonald’s and PepsiCo on Friday calling on them to halt operations in Russia.

Follow live updates on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

He warned the companies that they face “significant and growing legal, compliance, operational, human rights and personnel, and reputational risks” by continuing to do business in the country.

A boycott from them would play a major role in “condemning Russia’s role in fundamentally undermining the international order”, he wrote, according to Reuters.

The letter was also sent to other major businesses including beauty giants Estee Lauder Cosmetics and Coty, confectionery giant Mondelez and FMCG company Kimberly-Clark.

McDonalds has 847 restaurants in Russia with the country accounting for around 9 per cent of its total revenues, according to the company’s website.

For PepsiCo, Russia made up around 4 per cent of its global revenues last year, with the company claiming to be the largest food and beverage manufacturer in the country.

The Independent has reached out to The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and McDonald’s for comment.

NBC News
2024 was yet another 'change' election: From the Politics Desk
2024 culminated in the nation’s sixth straight “change” election, in which either the White House or at least one chamber of Congress switched party control.
Reuters
New York Times Tech Guild to return to work, negotiations will go on
More than 600 tech workers of NYT, including software engineers, designers and product managers, had gone on a strike amid stalled contract negotiations over pay and job security, planning daily protests during the crucial election day period. "We look forward to continuing to work with Tech Guild to reach a fair contract that takes into account that they are already among the highest paid individual contributors in the company," the spokesperson said. The Tech Guild has been in contract negotiations with NYT for more than two years.
Associated Press
Voters in California city reject measure allowing noncitizens to vote in local races
Voters in a Southern California city rejected a measure that would have allowed residents who aren’t U.S. citizens to vote in local elections. Measure DD was rejected by 60% of the voters in Santa Ana, a city of about 310,000 in Orange County that’s southeast of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday. Santa Ana, a predominantly Latino community, had more votes for Vice President Kamala Harris than President-elect Donald Trump.
TODAY
30 leftover turkey recipes to breathe new life into your bird
Transform your Thanksgiving leftovers into something entirely new.
NBC News
Senate Republican leadership fight becomes a proxy for MAGA influence under Trump
An army of online pro-Trump voices is trying to boost underdog Rick Scott for Senate Republican leader over two Mitch McConnell deputies, John Thune and John Cornyn.
NBC News
Wisconsin officials believe kayaker missing since summer faked his death and is in Europe
Officials in Wisconsin believe that a man who disappeared after kayaking at a lake this summer is alive and well, possibly faking his death and traveling to Europe — after taking out a life insurance policy and communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan.
Reuters
New Zealand offers national apology to people abused in care
New Zealand on Tuesday offered a rare national apology to victims and families of hundreds of thousands of young people and vulnerable adults who were subjected to institutional physical and sexual abuse over the last 70 years. The apology followed a report by a public inquiry in July that found some 200,000 children and vulnerable adults in state and faith-based care experienced some form of abuse from 1950 to 2019. A bill to include a range of measures to improve safety in state care will have its first reading in parliament on Tuesday, Luxon said.
CNN
18-year-old crew member killed as firefighters battle dangerous wildfires burning on both coasts
Dangerous wildfires are burning Monday on the East and West coasts, with firefighters in New York and New Jersey working to contain a deadly blaze spurred by an ongoing, historic drought – while strong winds in Southern California could fan a destructive fire in Ventura County.
CNN
A rare event during 1986 Uranus flyby may have skewed the way scientists understand the planet, study finds
A solar wind event squashed the protective bubble around Uranus just before Voyager 2 flew by the planet in 1986, shifting how astronomers understood the mysterious world.
Time
Women Denied Abortions in Idaho Take on the State’s Ban
The lawsuit asks the court to clarify and expand what situations qualify as medical emergency exceptions.
Reuters
Brazil's finance minister says outstanding issues on fiscal package resolved
Brazil's finance minister said on Monday that remaining stumbling blocks to a fiscal package aimed at curbing mandatory expenses had been resolved, but he added that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants to include a new point in the talks. The Brazilian real currency has weakened to multi-year lows against the U.S. dollar in recent weeks amid government delays to announce a fiscal package to stem a rapid rise in mandatory spending. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told journalists on Monday that outstanding issues which had held up discussions over the package last week were resolved.
Associated Press
Candidates line up for special elections to replace Virginia senators recently elected to US House
One of two special elections was announced Monday to replace Virginia state senators who were recently elected to the U.S. House, and candidates are already lining up to take over the seats. John McGuire and Suhas Subramanyam landed the congressional wins on Election Day. McGuire, a Republican, represented a rural district in central Virginia.
Reuters
UN Security Council considers action on Sudan war
The United Nations Security Council is discussing a British-drafted resolution that demands Sudan's warring parties cease hostilities and calls on them to allow safe, rapid and unhindered deliveries of aid across front lines and borders. War erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, and triggered the world's largest displacement crisis. It has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF.
AFP
Saudi-hosted summit says Mideast peace requires end to Israeli occupation
Arab and Muslim leaders demanded on Monday that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories as a precondition for regional peace, while denouncing "shocking" Israeli crimes in war-ravaged Gaza.The summit's closing statement said that "a just and comprehensive peace in the region... cannot be achieved without ending the Israeli occupation of all occupied Arab territories to the line of June 4, 1967," referring to the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem as well as Gaza and the Golan He
USA TODAY
What are tariffs? What to know about Donald Trump's plan to tax imports
Donald Trump has long touted tariffs as a campaign promise, with targets on Mexico and China. But what do the import taxes mean for consumers?
Associated Press
South Carolina lab recaptures 5 more escaped monkeys but 13 are still loose
Employees at a South Carolina compound that breeds monkeys for medical research have recaptured five more animals that escaped last week from an enclosure that wasn't fully locked. As of Monday afternoon, 30 of the 43 monkeys that made it outside the Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee are back in the company's custody unharmed, police said in a statement. Most if not all of the Rhesus macaques appeared to stay close to the compound after their escape Wednesday and Alpha Genesis employees have been watching them and luring them back with food, officials said.
Associated Press
Elon Musk's PAC spent an estimated $200 million to help elect Trump, AP source says
Elon Musk's super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the group's spending, funding an effort that set a new standard for how billionaires can influence elections. The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO provided the vast majority of the money to America PAC, which focused on low-propensity and first-time voters, according to the person, who was not authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. America PAC’s work was aided by a March ruling from the Federal Election Commission that paved the way for super PACs to coordinate their canvassing efforts with campaigns, allowing the Trump campaign to rely on the near-unlimited money of the nation’s most high-profile billionaire to boost turnout in deep-red parts of the country.
TODAY
Woman, 23, had a 'burning sensation' in her stomach. It was the first sign of a rare cancer
Sydney Towle, then 23, had a bump in her stomach that she thought was a hernia. Then she felt burning. She had bile duct cancer, rare for her age.
Associated Press
New Zealand's leaders formally apologize to survivors of abuse in state and church care
New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made a “formal and unreserved” apology in Parliament on Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care. An estimated 200,000 people in state, foster and faith-based care suffered “unimaginable” abuse over a period of seven decades, a blistering report released in July said at the end of the largest inquiry ever undertaken in New Zealand. “For many of you it changed the course of your life, and for that, the government must take responsibility,” Luxon said.
CNN
Ukraine is fighting 50,000 troops in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelensky says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia has deployed nearly 50,000 troops to Kursk, the southern Russian region where Kyiv launched its surprise counteroffensive in the summer.

Latest Stories