Sainsbury’s renames chicken kievs and pulls Russian-made vodka
Sainsbury’s is renaming its chicken kiev to chicken kyiv and pulling a Russian-made vodka from its shelves in the latest action by a British retailer to signal solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
The UK’s second-biggest supermarket said the packaging for the poultry dish would change in the next few weeks, switching the Soviet-era name for the country’s capital for the Ukrainian one.
The move comes after several smaller operators announced a switch to chicken kyiv, including the Better Naked brand and Essex-based Our Local Butcher. Marks & Spencer, which popularised the dish in the UK after making chicken kiev one of the first ready meals in 1979, has also come under pressure to rename the dish.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “We stand united with the people of Ukraine. We have reviewed our product range and have decided to remove from sale all products that are 100% sourced from Russia.
“This means that from today we will no longer sell two products – Russian standard vodka and Karpayskiye black sunflower seeds.”
Sainsbury’s said it had also reviewed JJ Whitley products, a range of vodkas and other spirits made in Russia. It said those would continue to be sold in its supermarkets as the drinks company had said it was moving all production to Chorley in Lancashire by the end of this month.
Sainsbury’s action comes after the Co-op and Morrisons also removed Russian vodka from sale.
Carmen Bryan, the consumer analyst at GlobalData, said: “Governments have been implementing sanctions however, it is interesting to see similar moves from the wider public and independent businesses.
“GlobalData’s survey reveals that brand loyalty is heavily influenced by alignment to one’s values. This puts Russian vodka brands in a
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