A New Old Russia: Russian Traditions are Reborn in Semi-Modern Interpretations

By Gregory Grishchenko

Boyarushka shampoo is now sold in this PET blow-molded bottle in the traditional matryoshka shape.

If you were born and raised in the Soviet Union or had visited there during the Cold War era, then you might remember unsightly cartons and "no frills" boxes produced by the local packaging industry for domestically made food, beverage, and consumer products. Scarcely available imported goods were a rare find and looked quite different with their distinguished look created by quality packaging.

Practically all USSR packaging research and development was 20 to 25 years behind that of the West. The country's powerful industries, oriented mostly towards military and space applications, produced a wide variety of sophisticated equipment. Because of this unilateral direction, the country was unable and unwilling to devote resources to packaging.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, rapid change was afoot. The Russian consumer market for the last 14 years has revealed a fast and sometimes volatile growth in the new economic climate. The Russian packaging industry is experiencing an annual growth rate of approximately 8% to 10%, with all types of materials being used for packages. The growth of this industry is driven mostly by Russian food products, cosmetics, tobacco, and beverages.

Russia then and now

The early 1900s were a renaissance period for Russian packaging. Famous artists designed packages and labels for food products and cosmetics, and this trend continued until the 1920s. This time was a period of complexity and excitement in Soviet life. The promise of a new order just a few years after the Bolshevik Revolution attracted many talented graphic artists who created package designs based on Russian history and ethnicity.

Artfully crafted tea tins are back in fashion after a long absence during the era of the Soviet Union.

Later, though, the Communist Party regime fueled the growth of the manufacturing industries, pushing to turn the Soviet Union from an agricultural economy into an industrial powerhouse. With packaging being low on the Soviet government's priority list, the early 20th Century graphic style faded away and reappeared only after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The growth of the Russian packaging industry gained momentum after 1998, when the unexpected devaluation of local currency cut imports of major food, cosmetics, and other consumer products. Local suppliers started to fill the demand gap by offering familiar brands in new and modern packages that could compete with imports. With a highly skilled workforce and modern packaging, printing, and converting technologies and materials provided by mostly Western suppliers, the country has quickly reached a level of packaging artwork that took decades for some other countries to attain.

In the last three years, Russia imported over 500 modern flexographic printing presses. Currently, Russia's growing packaging industry is using the best available technological and graphic means to promote consumer brands through images associated with traditional and historic cultural icons. The Russian market remains an important and attractive one for major Western packaging companies. However, this market is not without risk, because the country is acquiring expertise in balancing capitalism and government bureaucracy.

Decorative tins revive a tradition

The Orimi Trade company was founded in 1994 in St.Petersburg, and is the leader of the Russian tea market with the largest market share, and a large share of the roast coffee market as well. Orimi brands Princess Noori, Princess Gita, Princess Kandy and Princess Java make around 30% of all tea sales in the country, and Orimi buys the best tea stock from the Far East and coffee beans from South America.

Orimi Trade is using metal packaging in the form of octagonal decorated tins, which provide good product preservation qualities. Tin packaging for tea and coffee products is not an exclusive Russian custom, to be sure. However, Orimi Trade's decorative product line, composed of lithographed metal tins with images of St. Petersburg architectural landmarks, stands out by virtue of the artistic quality of its graphics. Since 2000, the company has been operating its own newly built factory—Nevskie Porogi—equipped with state-of-the-art machinery.

Tea tins first appeared in Russia in the 1890s. In the first years after the revolution of 1917 the label symbol was changed from that of the royal eagle to the Soviet hammer and sickle. By the end of World War II, they disappeared completely from grocery shelves. In the new Russia, metal packaging still remains a niche in the market, though, with only a modest 2% to 3% annual growth rate.

Matryoshkas are everywhere

Wooden stacking dolls are called matryoshkas, after Matryona, which was a very popular female name from Old Russia. The name became associated with the image of a mother in a big family who was very healthy, had a chubby figure, and was considered to be a symbol of fertility and motherhood. The matryoshka is the most famous Russian souvenir and is considered to be a phenomenon in world culture—both a puzzle and an icon representing the soul of Russia.

The first Russian matryoshka appeared at the end of the 19th century, created by highly skilled and imaginative Russian toymakers. The origins of a matryoshka-type doll can be traced to Honshu Island of Japan where it began in the shape of a good-natured, bald-headed old man—a Buddhist thinker by the name of Fukuruma. However, the Japanese claim that the first stacking doll on Honshu Island was made somewhere else by an unknown Russian monk.

The matryoshka image recurs in packages across the industry from cosmetics to liquor, today as much as ever. Dombeetchim is a small private company based in Moscow that produces 120 different personal cleansing and household products. After the Soviet collapse and privatization, Dombeetchim invested money in Western-made processing and packaging equipment.

Dombeetchim currently runs a PET blow molding line (making over one million containers per month) and injection molding equipment for closures, including push-pull and flip-top types. The package for the bath shampoo Boyarushka ("Young Princess") is designed in the shape of a matryoshka, having a PET blow molded body with push-pull closure and an injection molded head cap. The package is decorated with manually applied pressure sensitive labels, gravure printed in four colors. Dombeetchim's products often French themes portrayed in cosmetic label semiotics, as cosmetics in Russia are traditionally associated with French culture.

The KiN Wine-Brandy Factory was founded 65 years ago in Moscow. The company concentrates on vodka, brandy, and berry liquors. KiN employs 600 and supplies quality liquors to countries spread over Europe, the Americas, and Asia. The company is making deeper inroads into the highly competitive Western European market with the introduction of the vodka brand Matryoshka in the familiar shape. In 2005, this brand was awarded the special prize in Cannes, France, for folklore tradition in bottle creation.

Youri Dolgoruki vodka comes in a frosted-glass bottle that displays an image of the famous St. Basil's Cathedral through a clear window.

The Russian vodka reputation

Russians began distilling vodka in earnest in the 15th century (before gin and whiskey), about a hundred years after the alcohol distillation process was discovered in France. In 1884, after centuries of process refinement and government manipulation, a special Technical Committee was created to establish strict criteria for the drink. During the 70 years under Communist rule, Russian vodka production was strictly regulated and its reputation grew. With the dissolution of the USSR, these processing regulations and standards were abandoned. As a result, hundreds of small businesses have joined this lucrative market, reducing quality and tarnishing the product's traditional image.

Starting January 1, 2006, however, the government will impose new rules to improve the quality of this industry. During the last three years, the number of vodka producers in Russia was reduced from 700 distillery plants to 400. With this new legislation, the amount of producers might drop by another 150 to 200 businesses.

The leader of the industry, Kristall, is the largest distillery in the country. Located in Moscow, the 105-year-old company produces over four million gallons of high quality liquor annually and exports about 35% or that to 20 countries. Kristall is the first Russian distillery business that gained ISO 9001-2000 certification. In 1953, the Kristall company created the brand Stolichnaya which became a household name worldwide. For the last ten years Kristall has been heavily investing in state-of-the-art process and packaging equipment from Italy, Germany, and France, currently running 11 automatic bottling lines and an elite souvenir division.

Recently, Kristall Distilleries unveiled the premium Yuri Dolgoruki vodka in a frosted-glass bottle that displays an image of the famous St. Basil's Cathedral through a clear window in the packaging. Yuri Dolgoruki was the founder of Moscow in the 12th century and his likeness, along with the ancient St. Basil's located in the Red Square, creates a strong Russian association. The clear window provides a see-through effect to the church graphic on the back of the bottle. The impression of St. Basil's is silkscreen printed in six colors, with two gravure printed pressure sensitive labels on top of the window and on the closure completing the motif. This unique bottle design strives to reinforce the brand's image as an upscale, truly Russian product and also to differentiate this brand in the crowded vodka aisle.

Russian Honey in Handmade Barrels

Honey was one of the key export items along with grain, timber, wax, and hemp that Russia supplied to the West for centuries before changing to Communist rule. There is still a strong association for this product with a wooden barrel as a customary shipping means.

The Moscow based co-op specializing in organic natural products has chosen a miniature hand-made (18 oz.) wooden barrel for its Russian Honey brand. The package utilizes transparent PS labels for the product name.

Two hand-made wooden spoons are symmetrically attached to the barrel piece using polyethylene shrink wrap. The low labor and material costs help to bring the price of this gift package to below five dollars at retail.