Lindt chocolate sales in Russia rise 65% despite brand’s market exit
Russian retail sales of Lindt chocolate bars rose 65% year on year in the first half of 2026, even as the broader bar-chocolate market contracted by volume. Products made in Switzerland and France continue to reach Russia through local importers despite Lindt ending direct supplies in 2022.
Sales rise as the wider market contracts
Russian retail sales of Lindt chocolate bars increased 65% year on year in January–June 2026, according to NTech data reported by Izvestia and cited by Sfera.fm. The gain came despite a 9% contraction in the country’s bar-chocolate market by volume over the same period. The figures indicate that the Swiss premium brand is expanding from a smaller base while consumer demand shifts toward selected higher-priced products.
Lenta recorded a similar trend. The hypermarket chain said its Lindt sales rose 40% in units and 20% in value during the first nine months of 2026, although it did not disclose absolute volumes. The faster increase in units than revenue suggests that the product mix or average realized price changed over the period. More broadly, Russia’s bar-chocolate market continued to grow in monetary terms even as physical sales declined.
Local importers sustain supplies
Lindt & Sprüngli closed its Russian stores and suspended deliveries in March 2022, before announcing a complete withdrawal in August. The liquidation of its Russian legal entity was completed in February 2024. The producer says it has made no direct exports to Russia since 2022, but locally registered importers continue to bring its chocolate into the country.
In September 2026 alone, declarations in the Rosaccreditation registers covered 383,200 Lindt bars manufactured at company plants in Switzerland and France, Sfera.fm reported. Grand-Trade accounted for declarations covering 174,400 Swiss-made bars and also registered documents for serially produced goods from Switzerland and France. One declaration described Grand-Trade as a party authorized by the manufacturer. Lawyers cited in the report said that designation does not by itself prove direct sales by Lindt to a Russian counterparty, although it may indicate contractual links within the supply chain and a stable import channel.
Another 194,100 bars were declared in September by RVI, or Russian Venture Investments, whose managing organization is identified as X5’s corporate center. The consignments included French-made dark chocolate with 85% cocoa, as well as bars containing nuts and raisins. The declarations show that large retailers and import specialists can maintain availability without the brand’s former Russian subsidiary or direct distribution system.
Premium imports coexist with domestic dominance
Sfera.fm linked Lindt’s growth to a narrower selection on store shelves and a shift by some consumers toward premium chocolate. Regular shipments from Switzerland and France have supported that position. At the same time, domestically produced goods are estimated to represent 93% of Russia’s confectionery market in 2026, showing that imported premium brands occupy a limited but commercially resilient segment.
The broader Russian confectionery market reached 3.55 million tonnes and 2.15 trillion rubles in 2025, rising 1% by volume and 16% by value. Russia is also increasing confectionery exports: shipments rose 12% in value to $1.1 billion in the first seven months of 2026, with Kazakhstan and Belarus remaining the principal buyers and demand growing in Asia and the Middle East.
Chocolate confectionery led those exports at $510 million, up 13% year on year. Full-year exports of Russian chocolate products had already reached a record $985 million in 2025, an annual increase of 16%. Lindt’s expansion therefore sits alongside two distinct trends: strong domestic production and exports on one side, and persistent Russian demand for selected imported premium brands on the other.
