The president’s “favorite” ice cream: What became of the brands singled out by Vladimir Putin

Sirota eventually met Putin three years later, in 2018, at the Valdai Discussion Club. There, the cheese maker thanked the head of state for the sanctions and spoke of an “agricultural breakthrough” driven by Russia’s protectionist policies. Sirota also said he had tried nine times to present his cheese to the president as a gift, only for his security guards to confiscate it. Putin replied that his bodyguards had eaten the cheese.

Sirota managed to present his cheese to the president in 2019. Putin then promised that he would order it to be placed on his New Year's table. From that moment on, Sirota's socio-political career took off: in 2020, he became chairman of the Civic Chamber’s commission on agro-industrial development; in 2021, he moved up to co-chair of the All-Russia People’s Front (ONF) in the Moscow Region; and in 2023, he was appointed by presidential decree to the eighth composition of the Civic Chamber.

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Sirota became an official campaign representative for Putin. On social media, he regularly praises Putin’s policies, speaking enthusiastically about meetings with him and raising funds on behalf of the All-Russia People’s Front to support Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

“Presidential” ice cream

Perhaps the most famous case of presidential marketing involves the ice cream brand Korovka iz Korenovki (lit. “The Little Cow from Korenovka”). Putin first tried it at the MAKS international air show in 2019 and followed that up with another tasting in 2021.

In 2019, Putin also gave a box of the same ice cream to Xi Jinping to mark the Chinese leader’s 66th birthday. The brand was not named in media reports at the time, but the director of the Korenovsky Milk and Canning Plant later disclosed the details himself.

“Some time after [Putin met with Xi], a delegation from China came to the Krasnodar region and unexpectedly asked the regional administration to show them our plant,” he said. “Their first question was: Why was your ice cream given to our president?”

After the air show and the gift to Xi, the company announced plans to build a production facility for ice cream exports. Since then, it has regularly reported growth in exports of ice cream and condensed milk.