Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Pepsi-Cola were rare in the USSR from the 1920s to the 1980s. Instead, Soviet imitations of these famous drinks were popular throughout the USSR.
Branded drinks such as Coca-Cola, Fanta and Pepsi-Cola were available only in select places, such as exhibitions and restaurants. They were really expensive, and Soviet consumers had almost no opportunity to interact with the pop culture that was associated with these drinks in Western countries.
Pepsi-Cola appeared in the USSR in 1972. It was the first Western drink that was allowed for sale in the Soviet Union.
In 1989, when relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were very tense, Pepsi-Cola made a historic agreement with the Soviet government. They sacrificed $3 billion in currency and goods in exchange for the right to produce Pepsi-Cola in the USSR.
The drink “Baikal” was a popular lemonade in the USSR. It appeared in 1966 at the Leningrad lemonade factory. It was the first lemonade in the USSR containing the extract of the moral root. “Baikal” was an excellent alternative to imported drinks such as Coca-Cola or Fanta.
The drink was named after Lake Baikal, one of the largest freshwater bodies in the world. It was produced using water from an artesian well and contained ingredients such as sugar, citric acid, vanilla, cinnamon and orange essences, and extracts of moral root and birch leaves.
“Baikal” was intended for mass consumption and was sold in many stores throughout the country. The lemonade was popular with both children and adults. Now this drink is also sold in Russia, although it is no longer a national symbol, as it was during the USSR.
In the 1990s, after the collapse of the USSR, Coca-Cola, Fanta and Pepsi-Cola became much more popular, and are now distributed throughout Russia and other countries of the former USSR.