In August 2014, Russia announced it was banning foreign food imports to punish the West for imposing economic sanctions over Ukraine. Since then, the country has scrambled to fill emptying market shelves with locally made alternatives to Finnish yogurt, Dutch cheese, and Italian mozzarella. Sergei Chernov, a journalist and photographer based in St. Petersburg, takes a look at some recent mealtime options, many of which appear to involve processed cheese.
Spreading It On Thick: Russia's Latest Supermarket Substitutes
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Some of the new products appear to be packaged with the patriotic shopper in mind. One example: Krymskoye Maslo, or Crimean Butter, whose label comes adorned with the black-and-orange St. George's ribbon worn by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. A similarly beribboned Crimean Vodka is also newly available. Both are produced in the Crimean city of Sevastopol.
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Another patriotically named product, Kremlyovskoye, despite promising the "tender taste of cream," is not butter but a member of the "spread category." The label features the image of the kremlin not in Moscow but in Nizhy Novgorod, where Kremlyovskoye is made.
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Omichka, a "paste-like processed dessert with cheese," may tempt nostalgists with fond memories of a popular processed cheese made during the Soviet era under the same name. Made in Omsk, hence the name.
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Many Soviet-style processed cheeses live on, albeit with new names -- Russian, Friendship of Continents, and Dutch -- and a slightly edited description: "processed food with cheese.