Dhe outrage is great that Ritter Sport is facing these days. The confectionery manufacturer from Baden-Württemberg continues to deliver chocolate to Russia despite the attack on Ukraine. The family business says the decision was not easy to make.
In the event of a delivery stop, however, production would have to be drastically reduced. And that then has serious effects on the company, its employees and ultimately also the cocoa farmers from whom Ritter Sport obtains its raw materials.
The consumers take note of this declaration. However, many cannot or do not want to understand the reasoning. In any case, the criticism in the social networks is great and does not die down even after a few days. And that could become a big problem in the medium to long term, brand experts believe. It is true that among experts, Ritter Sport is seen as a strong and positive brand with great resilience.
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“In addition, shitstorms usually take place in social media bubbles and thus remain within a certain target group, so some consumer groups are not reached at all,” says Colin Fernando, partner at the management consultancy Brandtrust, to WELT. “But the current case is different and special in many ways,” believes the brand expert, who sees a damage to the image of Ritter Sport, which could prove to be a blemish for a long time to come.
Because from Fernando’s point of view, Ritter Sport has practically no choice. “When it comes to Russia, there are currently no two sides for most people to stand on.” The company is now perceived as a supporter of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. The protection given for employees and cocoa farmers is basically a good intention.
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“Nevertheless, the company has interpreted the current situation too one-dimensionally,” says Fernando. And especially in times of crisis, people are even more attentive and sensitive to such signals than in classic everyday life. “This one campaign can have a greater impact on the perception of the brand than many millions of advertising millions can at normal times.”
Criticism also from Ukrainians
According to the expert, this scares off both customers and employees – both current and future ones. “As a consumer, I’m now standing in front of the candy aisle and have a queasy feeling about a product like chocolate that actually has positive connotations,” explains Fernando. Many would therefore resort to competing products, especially from the younger generations. But they are precisely the employees of tomorrow at Ritter Sport.
“It is quite possible that for many Ritter Sport there will no longer be an option as an employer. Because the brand now has a flaw. In times of a shortage of skilled workers, this is not a desirable situation.” Fernando also considers Ritter Sport’s attitude to be problematic for the existing workforce. “The management did the employees a disservice. Because they now probably have to justify themselves in their private lives.”
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WELT asked the company for a statement on Fernando’s statements, but there was no response to this request. Before that, however, the Swabians had tried a kind of flight forward in a post to the “Ritter Sport Community”.
The statement condemned in the strongest possible terms “the cruel aggression of the Russian army in Ukraine”. The company also pledges to donate the profits from ongoing business with Russia to humanitarian aid organizations.
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“A sense of responsibility is more important to us than profit,” is the reasoning. At the same time, Ritter Sport repeated its previous position in the post: “In order to secure jobs and the livelihoods of many cocoa farming families, we continue to supply chocolate for the Russian population, but have stopped all investments in Russia and our advertising for a few weeks.”
Criticism and calls for a boycott have not changed, among others from the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Andriy Melnyk, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, who recently rewrote the Ritter Sport advertising slogan on Twitter to “Quadratisch.Praktisch.Blut”.
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However, the chocolate manufacturer did not expect the resentment to subside anyway. “We are aware that we will not change anyone’s mind with this. But it is important to us to share our motives with you openly and honestly, just as you are used to from Ritter Sport.
Praise, on the other hand, comes from Bernhard Eisenhut, the consumer policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg. Ritter Sport is crisis-conscious in times of crisis, says the politician. “A medium-sized company that generates ten percent of its sales in a certain market cannot withdraw from this market overnight – not even if it is the Russian one.
This not only shows responsibility towards our own employees, but also towards the suppliers affected. It is precisely this responsibility that the federal and state governments no longer assume for their own citizens, but on the contrary shifts it onto the citizens under moralistic pseudo-arguments. This shows that the ruling politicians have completely withdrawn from reality,” Eisenhut comments.
On request, the company left unanswered whether Ritter Sport was happy about this assistance. For Brandtrust advisor Fernando, the AfD comment worsens the situation.
“The party pulls Ritter Sport in front of its own cart for its own narrative. This is extremely unfortunate for the brand and reinforces the current negative image of Ritter Sport. And the latter clearly outweighs this for most people.
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