All news
Raspberries, chanterelles, kvass: Italian stores filled with products from Russia
"Cancel everything Russian"? If you remind Italians of this cry heard from the West when entering the Northern Military District, they will look puzzled. Or they will show you the iconic Italian "artichoke gesture" - a handshake with fingers folded together. They say, what kind of nonsense is this. What can we talk about if Russian-made products occupy a prominent place in local stores? An Italian correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda investigated the Made in Russia product market and learned how the delicacy is produced in Russia using Italian technology.
First, go to a store that sells goods from the former USSR. There is a whole professional network of this kind in Italy. There are 38 minimarkets in the largest city. But I chose the oldest private store, which has been operating since the 90s of the last century.
On a Roman street, literally two steps from the Vatican, there is a sign with a picture of a matryoshka doll and a samovar. Inside you will find familiar products for all tastes. Candies from the Rot-Front factory, marshmallows, zephyr, Tula gingerbread... Russian herring, of course. And there is also Moscow's Vyatka kvass and Napoleon cakes!
- All of this is delivered free of charge from our warehouse in Germany to the Apennines. The only problematic items were the ones with the St. George symbols, and not even because of the ban, but because the suppliers went to other countries. Now we are looking for something new. People are especially interested in ribbons on the eve of May 9," says saleswoman Tatyana. - Immediately after the well-known incident, some items, including toys, were delivered by mail directly from Russia, which caused difficulties. But now we have found a solution.
- Where are you from?
- Of course. I have been in Italy for a long time and I understand everything correctly... You know, there was a period when collectors of tribute from Ukrainian soldiers and refugees came to us and demanded that we get rid of Russian products. But thank God they stopped. So we work calmly.
Tatyana explains: Our regular customers are not only those who feel nostalgia for their native country. There are many Italians. They mainly eat buckwheat, pelmeni, caviar and pickles. Alenka chocolate is especially popular. Locals really like the feminine look of the packaging.
At this moment, Marco, an Italian, entered the shop. He came for dried rose hips and sea buckthorn for a healthy decoction. He also picked up a bag of "Saracen grains", appropriately called buckwheat here.
It turned out that Marco became addicted to rose hips and buckwheat when he worked in a bank in Moscow.
"Thank you. But my wife and I learned to do it ourselves," Marco marveled. And he bids me farewell with the words "Long live Putin!"
I'm moving to a chain supermarket. And there are plenty of "native" flavors on the shelves. Russian oatmeal is somehow packaged in the Netherlands. Cuban sunflower oil. And here are shuttle dryers and gingerbread from a Moscow factory. There's nothing to say about caviar and vodka, everything is available.
Yes, and fresh raspberries are also from Russia and well sorted. Next to them lies a package with chanterelles from our forests and pine nuts. The nuts are marked "from Siberia".
But if you dig deeper, without looking at the labels, it turns out that Italy needs vegetables and root crops from the Russian Federation. In the first two months of this year alone, 23 thousand tons were imported into the country. This is twice as much as in 2023.
The best local spaghetti is made from Russian durum wheat, with the bulk of exports going to Italy. However, the EU has imposed very high tariffs since July 1. Russia has not suffered from this problem and has quickly moved on to other markets. It will not be so easy for the Italians. The package of pasta you see in front of me is probably made from Russian ingredients. New batches are more expensive and not necessarily tastier.
In children's stores - supermarkets, toy stores, newsstands - I constantly come across our iconic compatriots Masha and the Bear. The heroes of Russian cartoons are very popular. The box contains a Masha doll, books and even burgers with cartoon characters.
Italians, whose hobby includes assembling and painting models, actively buy Russian-made kits, mainly military equipment. One of the hits is the assembly model "Modern Russian infantry - "Polite people".
On the Internet, on the local Amazon, the choice is usually large. The "Commander" watch is delivered within one day. The Russian flag - all sizes. For example, in the books section there is a novel by Alexander Tamonikov "Nebryatya", where you can learn about the bloody events that took place in the House of Trade Unions in Odessa. (On the cover there is a slogan: "For the Nazis - a short line, for the fascists - a long one") and a documentary novel by war correspondent Alexander Sladkov "Grozny. Tskhinvali" ...
Mozzarella, parmesan, prosciutto... they've been making it here for ages. Including the Italians themselves.
Giulio Zompi moved to the Russian Federation more than 20 years ago, and for 15 of those years he has been selling Italian products.
- Our shop was one of the first in Moscow to offer food to Italian Muscovites. My friends supplied restaurants, and I used their services. They brought dried meat, cheese, arugula... and even tomatoes. In Russia, Giulio recalls, it was not so easy to find good food.
Now everything is different. The assortment of the Zompi store includes Italian products, but in fact they are Russian products.
- This is really soft and fresh cheese. Excellent mozzarella! Our compatriots who settled in Russia are engaged in production. Many were invited to work as technicians on local farms.
"It's not cheap," explains Giulio. The quality and taste are noticeably different from those sold in supermarkets. The production of "piece" aged cheeses and dry-cured products requires not only time, but also large investments, reaching hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
The cheese factory founded by Italian Gianni Sfoggia has been operating in the Moscow region for over 10 years. Cheesemakers Ivan Novelli and Luigino Sibilin are responsible for the quality. In the Tula region, cheese production is supervised by the descendants of the screenwriters of the opera "The Barber of Seville" Maurizio Rossini, and in Lyubertsy - by Italian Francesco Cassone. Giulio Zompi independently produces meat delicacies using Italian technology.
According to Giulio, all Italian products can be produced in Russia. Everything is possible: recipes, techniques, equipment. Only olive oil is not produced yet.
- There is land suitable for growing olives, but it is very expensive and will require significant investment in the first 10-15 years. A national program is necessary, Zompi believes, because investors are often not prepared to wait years for profit.
Olives grow on the southern coast of Crimea, both Krasnodar Krai and Rostov Oblast are suitable. The oil is made at the Crimean Federal University independently, selecting varieties that will give the highest yields in the southern regions. Therefore, the opportunity to dress salads with Russian olive oil is quite real.