The boss of German chocolate manufacturer Ritter Sport, Andreas Ronken, has defended his company's decision to remain active on the Russian market despite the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
"Russian children also like to eat chocolate," he told Focus magazine on Thursday.
Many Western companies pulled out of the Russian market after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ritter Sport, however, has continued to do business in Russia despite occasionally sharp criticism. Russia remains the company's second-largest market.
Ronken argued that the war would not be won by putting restrictions on food products, including chocolate.
"Our decision was the right one, and I would make it again in the same way," said the chief executive.
He also pointed to potentially major ramifications for the business if it had shut down its Russia operations, including major layoffs at the company's headquarters in the south-western German town of Waldenbuch.
"If we had gone out there, we would have had to lay off 200 people at the Waldenbuch site," Ronken told the magazine.
Ritter Sport has previously justified the decision to remain in Russia by citing the impact on production, which would ultimately also affect cocoa farmers in West Africa, Central and South America.
The company announced instead that it would stop additional investment in the Russian market, no longer advertise there and donate the profits from Russia to humanitarian aid organizations.
