You're reading: Belaruskie Produkty stores revive taste of Soviet food

Want a taste of what it was like back in the USSR? Then try doing your grocery shopping at Belaruskie Produkty.

This growing chain of independent, kiosk-style grocery stores has mushroomed throughout Kyiv in the past year, becoming increasingly popular with local shoppers. There are now several dozen across the city, mainly near metro stations. They specialize in the sale of Soviet-style food products cranked out in Alexander Lukashenko’s dictator-run Belarus.

Some Ukrainians shop there to satisfy a lingering craving or nostalgia for the kinds of food they ate two decades ago when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union. Others claim the quality is simply better than domestic produce.

Promoting its products as “Soviet quality,” Belaruskie Produkty sells everything from milk in plastic bags, similar to the way it was packaged in Soviet times. All the goods are imported from Belarus, including canned sweet condensed milk, sausages, chocolate and cereals.

Some improvements have been made since Soviet days. Vendors don’t scream at you or speak rudely as they did decades ago. They are polite.

“I can still remember that natural taste of Soviet food from when I was a child,” said 34-year old Natalia Bezsonova, coming out from one of the Belarusian grocery shops in Kyiv. “These Belarusian products are the same,” she added while carrying sausages and a milk pudding.

While there is no independent testing to prove it, many Ukrainians feel that Soviet food was healthier than that from the West because it was fresher and contained less chemical preservatives and herbicides in the farming process. This is what draws many local shoppers to Belaruskie Produkty.

Nostalgic for Soviet times? Drop in and get a taste of ‘high-quality’ USSR food products.

Experts praised the novel marketing strategy for working despite carrying what are often 10-15 percent higher price tags compared to domestic foods.

“They play on nostalgia,” said Oleksandr Verzhykhovsky, food quality and safety expert of Association Ukrainian Agribusiness Club. “I don’t think this produce is better than ours, but they [the Belarusians] have a good market strategy.”

The familiar taste of Belarusian products has its dark side, however. Usage of outdated technologies safety controls can lead to higher incidences of food poisoning, for example. And this, possibly coupled with the fear that the domestic market will soon be flooded with food from Belarus, has triggered a backlash from Ukrainian authorities and domestic producers.

On March 1, Ukraine’s State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service suspended import of Belarusian dairy and meat products after finding “excessive amounts of veterinary drugs” and threat of African swine fever, respectively. Belarusian officials threatened to retaliate by banning Ukrainian products, but backed off for fear of triggering a broader trade war.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that the ban on the import of Belarusian meat and dairy foods – which follows a similar Russian ban on Ukrainian cheese – was temporary. Experts say it may last for several months, depending upon how fast Belarus addresses relevant concerns.
The Embassy of Belarus was not immediately available for comment. The Kyiv office of Ukrbelbud, the company supplying much of the Belarusian grocery to Kyiv, declined to comment.

As of March 8, most of the Belaruskie Produkty grocery kiosks in Kyiv appeared to be still selling dairy and meat products, apparently from existing stocks imported earlier. Hungry?

Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected].