The All-Russian Consumer Rights Protection Society coordinated a number of Quality Contests on the food market. The contests are aimed at checking the food manufacturers’ compliance with the governmental standards and selecting a winner, the so-called quality leader, in every market segment. The fist such contest has been held among vodka brands.

‘The contest is targeted at encouraging producers to compete for brand leadership and improve on quality. Strong drinks are one of the food market’s most challenging products, this is why we started with them,’ says the Society Chairman Mikhail Anshakov.

Among the contestants were eleven vodka brands chosen by customers in supermarkets, with vodka samples bought by the experts themselves right in retail outlets.

A ten-people panel of assessors evaluated the drinks in accordance with the newly edited governmental standard Р51355 that is believed to surpass its European counterparts in many aspects. The panel had to assess the look, taste, smell, and color of drinks on a scale of one to ten. As a result, Khortytsa, with its 9.45 points, outstripped the Swedish Absolut (9.42 points) and Russkiy Standart (9.34 points) and won in the contest.

‘The sampling procedure looks very reliable, so we are very proud to win in this contest. Ensuring perfect quality is our company’s top priority, and this quality has been proved by Khortytsa’s numerous certificates (we’ve got over fifty of those) and over two hundred prestigious international prizes. As recently as this year, the brand has won the first prize at ProdExpo and at the International Spirits Challenge in London,’ GD of the company’s Russian representation Roman Marchenko said to UrBC.