Baskin-Robbins, Soviets Strike a Sweet Deal

Hoping to expand Soviet consumers’ horizons beyond vanilla and chocolate, ice cream maker Baskin-Robbins will build a new plant outside Moscow.

Under an agreement struck Tuesday, the Glendale-based franchiser will build a $30-million plant in the Moscow suburb of Ostankino as a joint venture with a Soviet trade ministry. The plant, scheduled to open in 1992, will be staffed by about 100 Soviets and will be designed to produce more than 8 million gallons of ice cream annually.

That supply will be sold at thousands of existing government-managed food stores in Moscow, ending a government monopoly on ice cream freezer space in the Soviet capital, said William Savel, president of Baskin-Robbins Inc.

Savel said government-issue ice cream in the Soviet Union is available in only two flavors--chocolate and vanilla. Baskin-Robbins will distribute 10 flavors initially and will expand the selection and its markets, aiming for nationwide distribution.

“They have a large unmet demand for ice cream,” Savel said. “Their ice cream is good, but our ice cream is better and we have a greater variety. We think they (Soviet consumers) will accept it readily.”

Savel said Baskin-Robbins will generate hard currency by selling about 10% of its product in Soviet stores that accept only convertible currency, shops generally catering to tourists. Baskin-Robbins will use rubles from the food stores for plant supplies and expansion efforts.

The venture is Baskin-Robbins’ second in the Soviet Union. The firm has been selling ice cream from a shop in the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow since 1988, an enterprise approved in the wake of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit of that year.

After the first agreement, Baskin-Robbins announced it would sell a flavor called “Kremlin Cranberry.” To inaugurate the latest deal, the firm said it will sell a white and dark chocolate concoction called “Gorba Chocolate.”