US confectionery giant Mondelez International has started producing Oreo cookies again at its production site in Ukraine.
In a statement sent to Just Food, the company confirmed it had “restarted the production of Oreo cookies at our Ukrainian plant in Trostyanets”.
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The site is back up and running following a complete reconstruction of the biscuit line of the site, it said.
Speaking to Reuters, Mondelez noted that a section of the factory had opened for a brief period last year to manufacture chocolates.
The snacks plant, situated in north-eastern Ukraine near the city of Trostyanets in the Sumy Oblast region, had been badly damaged following Russia’s invasion of the country in the first half of 2022.
Mondelez had closed the site since 24 February when the conflict first began.
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By GlobalDataAn unnamed source familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters that Oreo cookies had been exported to Ukraine while the site had been shut.
In addition to Trostyanets, Mondelez also manages a plant in the village of Stari Petrivtsi close to the capital Kyiv. In addition to Oreos, the company’s Ukraine branch also produces Milka chocolate, Tuc and Belvita biscuits, Dirol gum and Halls lollipops.
In its statement, Mondelez added that the Trostyanets products “will be sold on the Ukrainian market and exported to other countries.”
The company told Reuters that brands manufactured at Trostyanets would not be exported to Russia, where it still operates via three factories.
Its Russian plants in Veliky Novgorod, Pokrov and Sobinka produce chewing gum, chocolate and biscuits respectively.
The group has continued to export some products into Russia since the war began. This includes its Milka chocolate which has been supplied from Belgium.
Last year, Mondelez announced plans to scale down production in the country, as it faced growing criticism and boycotts from the Nordic market for continuing business there.
The group previously said it was aiming to turn its Russian operations into a “stand-alone” business with a “self-sufficient supply chain” by the end of 2023.
Mondelez featured on Ukraine’s ‘international sponsors of war’ list, which up until recently had been available to the public online. Food companies such as Nestle, Unilever, Mars, Bonduelle and PepsiCo were also listed to raise awareness of large companies continuing to work in Russia following the invasion.
The list was moved out of the public space following appeals from several countries over a lack of regulatory framework in managing the list, as well as claims of the “negative impact” it was having on bureaucratic decision-making to “counter Russian aggression” in Ukraine.
