I have been reading this forum for a few years, although I was never confident enough to share my thoughts. I mostly just read some discussions and followed along. These days I have more free time than I used to, maybe even too much on my hands than I'd like, so I am more inclined to finally post something. Anyway, I noticed a rather strange object in 7-Eleven in Thailand yesterday. Russian chocolate. It was Alenka brand, made by the Red October confectionery factory in Moscow. I honestly had no idea Russia made chocolate, let alone exported it. Apparently, they mainly export their cocoa products, and in large quantities to Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. Which made me wonder why anyone would even buy chocolate from Russia at all. I mean, Russia is invading Ukraine, much of the Western world has sanctioned and stopped buying Russian products altogether, and yet here we are, with Russian chocolate sitting in a convenience store in Thailand. What exactly is the thinking behind this? “Well, much of the world won’t buy Russian oil, gas or anything else, but perhaps we will have some of their chocolate.” Thailand seems to be quite happy to keep buying things from Russia that other countries won’t accept anymore. I suppose North Korea and Iran probably do as well, so Thailand sits among all those great nations! I just find the whole thing rather strange. If Russia can’t sell its products in Western countries, then presumably it has to find countries that are still willing to buy them. And if there aren’t many countries willing to do that, you would think they would have to offer some very good prices. Then 7-Eleven is selling it, and it’s not inexpensive either. I know it is only a chocolate bar, but surely buying something from Russia is still buying something from Russia. Russian products were always associated with rather poor quality when I was younger too. People used to joke about how even Russian toilet paper was second rate quality. Now there is Russian chocolate sitting next to Kit Kats and Snickers bars in Thailand. I know I would never buy anything made in Russia, for various reasons. Would you?
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