Producers of Jagermeister from Kaluga liquor have a hangover

Source The German company is trying to ban the production of a domestic analogue of the liquor, according to the Kristall plant. Jagermeister, although he did not officially leave Russia, obviously began to supply his products in a much smaller volume. Controversy around the Jägermeister. The German producer of the popular liquor has filed a complaint against the Kaluga distillery Kristall. Russian colleagues have recently released their own liqueur – in many ways similar to Jagermeister. The Germans believe that similarity is at the level of confusion. The Kaluga plant in response sent a complaint to the Federal Antimonopoly Service against the Germans for unfair competition.

It is not difficult to understand what exactly the German manufacturer of the famous liquor did not like – just put two bottles together, from a plant from Lower Saxony and an enterprise from Kaluga. Both are made of thick green glass, the labels of both have inscriptions along the border, the name is made in black on an orange background. The main difference is that the Kaluga manufacturer has a coat of arms on the label, while the German colleagues have a deer. And the neck of the bottle at the Kaluga plant is longer than that of the Germans. The Jagermeister analogue appeared on the market this autumn under the trademarks Alter Heiler and Konig Heiler. The company immediately received a complaint from the Germans, General Director of the Kristall plant Artem Chubukin told Business FM:

Artem Chubukin

General Director of the Kristall plant

“KLVZ has launched a new product – herbal liqueur based on 52 herbs, Jagermeister considered that we are direct competitors. Claims were sent demanding to stop production and introduction into civil circulation in the future of these products, also claims and demands were sent for withdrawal from circulation, termination of sales of products that we supplied to retail chains. There are very few such liqueurs on the Russian market, namely herbal ones. Regarding the use of the recipe, this is the own development of the management of the Kristall plant. Since 2019, our technologists have been developing their own recipe, selecting herbs. We have not copied Jägermeister as a liqueur in any way, and the appearance has not yet been established. What the representatives of the company say that our products are similar is only the opinion of the representatives.

According to the director of the Kristall factory, no examinations have yet been carried out for the similarity of liqueurs, neither in appearance, nor in composition. The Kaluga plant noted that they had been developing their bitters for a long time, but their entry into the market had to be postponed due to the pandemic. Coincidentally, the emergence of new herbal liqueurs coincided with the possible departure of Jägermeister from Russia. The products of the Germans were even included in the list of parallel imports. Officially, the Germans did not announce their withdrawal, but there were already interruptions in supplies. It is not clear why you should cling to the market if you intend to leave it, Denis Puzyrev, the author of the Drunken Master telegram channel, says:

Denis Puzyrev

author of the “Drunk Master” telegram channel

“One way or another, indeed, if you go into the store, you rarely see Jagermeister lately, apparently, if there is one somewhere, these are unsold leftovers. Nevertheless, apparently, for them, regardless of whether they left or not left, there is a difference. Perhaps then they think to return, and the place will already be occupied by someone. Jagermeister is a real icon in its category of bitters, but it is difficult to repeat the entire recipe, if only because the full recipe is kept secret.

The story about the secret composition of Jagermeister, from 56 different herbs, which the company jealously guards, looks like a historical bike, as well as marketing, akin to the famous 11 secret spices of Colonel Sanders (KFC brand). A serious business is well aware of all the components of its competitors' products. The Kaluga plant is adamant – it says that it did not copy anything, and sent a response complaint, only now to the FAS. Igor Simonov, Managing Partner of the Gagarin Law Office in Moscow, discusses the judicial prospects:

Igor Simonov

Managing Partner of the Gagarin Law Office in Moscow

“There may be such claims, of course, we have such a concept as the degree of confusion. If the consumer perceives this label, identifies it with Jagermeister, then formally we can say that there is a violation of rights. But, taking into account the current situation and parallel imports, I believe that there is a formal reason for going to court, but the prospect is doubtful for me. -4.5 thousand rubles. Liquor from Kaluga is cheaper – only about a thousand rubles per half liter. The plan for the next year at the Kaluga “Crystal” – the release of three hundred thousand decaliters of new liqueurs. So far, the parties delivered to the stores are giving good New Year's discounts, and the new liquor is not available everywhere. Jägermeister, however, is no more common now.

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