Business & Tech

Publix, Total Wine Removes Russian Alcohol Amid Ukraine Conflict

Southeastern Grocers has pledged to donate 100 percent of proceeds from the sale of its private-label Ukrainian vodka for the next 31 days.

D'Ann Lawrence White and Cassie Fambro, Patch Staff

Posted Mon, Feb 28, 2022 at 5:23 pm ET|Updated Mon, Mar 7, 2022 at 2:20 pm ET

Some bar owners are mistakenly pouring out their stores of Stolichnaya and Smirnoff, although neither is made in Russia. (Shutterstock)

FLORIDA — Publix, which has more than 300 liquor stores in the Southeast, and Total Wine & More, which has 34 locations in Florida, have removed Russian products from their shelves.

Additionally, Southeastern Grocers of Jacksonville, which operates Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más and Harveys grocery stores, has pledged to donate 100 percent of the proceeds made from the sale of its private-label Ukrainian vodka for the next 31 days to relief efforts in Ukraine, that's the number of years since Ukraine declared independence from Russia.

Southeastern Grocers also announced it is making at $250,000 donation to the International Committee of the Red Cross through its Southeastern Grocers Gives Foundation.

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“At Southeastern Grocers, we are guided by doing the right thing; we recognize the people of Ukraine need our help, and they need it now,” said SEG President and CEO Anthony Hucker. “That’s why we are immediately directing funds to the International Committee of the Red Cross to support the victims of the war in Ukraine. This decision is a natural extension of our belief that there is greater power in unity than there is in division; we believe that we are all stronger together.”

Southeastern Grocers Inc. is one of the largest conventional supermarket companies in the U.S. SEG grocery stores throughout the five southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Many of its Winn-Dixie stores have attached Winn-Dixie Wine & Spirits stores. Additionally, the company announced last year that it's launching 19 new standalone liquor stores, branded WDs Wine, Beer & Liquor, opening its first store in September in Miramar.

Find out what's happening in Tampawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Total Wine & More, based in Delaware, was one of the first liquor stores in the country to make the announcement, saying its decision was made to support Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion into their country.

The company made the announcement in an Instagram post and received praise, garnering thousands of "likes" on a post showing a photo of an empty shelf where Russian alcohol once was.

Publix followed suit on Wednesday. Based in Lakeland, Publix announced it was pulling Russian vodka from its liquor stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

In addition to companies boycotting Russian products, the governors of at least 11 states have ordered Russian-branded and Russian-made vodka to be pulled from the shelves in government-run liquor stores.

Showing their support for Ukraine as well, individual bar owners have begun boycotting popular brands of Russian vodka on the website, WikiliQ.org's Best Russian Vodkas, including Ustianochka, Russian Standard, Jewel of Russia vodkas, Beluga Gold Line, Beluga Transatlantic Racing Russian and Beluga Allure vodkas, Zyr vodka, Husky vodka, Polugar Classic Rye vodka, Mamont Siberian vodka, Hammer + Sickle vodka, Nemiroff, Nemiroff Wheat, Nemiroff Honey Pepper and Nemiroff Cranberry vodkas, Imperia vodka and Ivanbiitch Cherry, Red Berry and Peach vodkas.

Some bar owners are mistakenly pouring out their stores of Stolichnaya and Smirnoff, although neither is made in Russia.

Nearly all Stoli is made in Latvia, the former Soviet Republic, and Smirnoff is owned by Diageo beverage company in London.

For vodka drinkers wanting to support Ukraine, Khor vodka, is made at Ukraine's Khortytsa Distillery, and Vektor vodka, is made at the Rodnik Distillery, the oldest continually operating distillery on the eastern banks of the Volga River in Ukraine.

Correction: NEFT vodka was incorrectly included on WikiliQ.org's Best Russian Vodkas website. NEFT's director of communications, Bonnie McBride, said NEFT is distilled and packaged in Austria and, as noted on NEFT's unique packaging, all its ingredients are from Austria and Germany including its Alps spring water and Old-World ancient rye grains.

"The owner's wife is, in fact, Ukrainian, and everyone is devastated by this development," McBride said.

So, vodka drinkers can also add NEFT to their list of pro-Ukraine vodkas.

The same website also listed Karkov Vodka as made in Russia. Brittany Trangsrud, communications manager for Prestige Beverage Group, tells us Karkov Vodka was developed in Minnesota 40 years ago in 1982. The brand’s inspiration was the city of Kharkiv, located in northeast Ukraine. Since its inception, Karkov has been made with Midwest corn and proudly produced in the United States.

So, Karkov Vodka should get a thumbs up from vodka drinkers as well.