Texas retailers are taking a proactive approach to boycotting Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, pulling Russian products from shelves at the urging of Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott.
"I've asked the members of the Texas Restaurant Association, Texas Package Stores Association & all Texas retailers to voluntarily remove all Russian products from their shelves," Abbott tweeted Saturday. "Texas stands with Ukraine. #StandWithUkraine."
The response was quick, according to NBC's KXAN TV.
Russian House of Austin is taking "Russian" out of its business name Sunday, and County Line barbecue is pulling all Russian vodka off the shelf, including Smirnoff and Stoli brands.
"We were all just kind of set back by what was going on," Skeeter Miller told KXAN. "This is what we can do, something positive."
His restaurant and bar orders $50,000 to $75,000 per year, he said, but he is going to completely end supporting brands from Russia.
"I just found out tonight that there's a vodka from Ukraine called Khor, k-h-o-r, so we're going to reach out and buy some of that," Miller added.
Despite the actions, the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. noted Stoli is distilled in Latvia, while Smirnoff is fully owned by Diageo with no ties to Russia, and the Smirnoff consumed in the U.S. is made in Plainfield, Illinois.
"Some of the popular vodka brands consumers may think are Russian are not produced in Russia," Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Lisa Hawkins told Newsmax in a statement. "There is not a lot of Russian-made vodka in the U.S. marketplace. Imports of Russian vodka to the United States are down nearly 79% since 2011, and accounted for only 1.3% of total vodka imports in 2021."
Top 10 Vodka Imports 2021, among the $1,413,959,643 imported, according to the Distilled Spirits Council:
- France $660,494,286.
- Netherlands $290,975,070.
- Sweden $176,729,847.
- Latvia $137,122,687.
- Poland $63,178,143.
- Russia $18,498,015.
- Canada $15,165,337.
- Iceland $10,110,445.
- United Kingdom $7,516,434.
- Finland $6,723,183.
Kick Butt Coffee is no longer going to serve Beluga Noble Russian Vodka, the only Russian brand it stocked.
"Russia does make great vodka, but we have lots of great options in Texas as well," Dan Mesich bar manager at Kick Butt told KXAN. "All our other vodkas are Titos, Deep Eddy's and Dripping Springs."
The Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) said some of their 50,000 members are going to discontinue purchasing and selling Russian imports.
"We're gonna work hard to make sure that we have alternatives to what they’re already using and then really work with our suppliers," TRA President and CEO Emily Williams Knight told KXAN.
She said that "to make sure that the economic impact is not on top of what they've already been facing in the pandemic."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.