How Stranger Things Led To An Unusual Russian Peanut Butter Myth

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If you watched season four of "Stranger Things," you probably heard the character Yuri, a Russian smuggler, say that peanut butter was banned in Russia. But is that true? Technically, no. (It's just another debunked food myth.)

However, it's true that at the time, peanut butter was extremely rare in Russia, which was then part of the Soviet Union (via Express). After all, "Stranger Things" is set in the 1980s, which is near the end of the Cold War, when tensions between the United States and Soviet Union were running high. As the Express article points out, the United States was believed to be the biggest manufacturer of peanut butter in the world during this era. As a result, importing the product would be quite difficult — but there wasn't an actual ban in place.

The level of accessibility changed when the Soviet Union fell in 1991. Peanut butter companies saw a big opportunity to expand into a new market. By the following year, the American Peanut Council was already shipping the legume-based spread to the Moscow Children's Fund to get it included in school lunches. However, toward the end of the decade, it seemed these efforts weren't paying off as hoped. In 1997, a representative from CPC Foods (which at the time made the popular peanut butter brand, Skippy) told The Moscow Times that Russians preferred a sweeter, less salty product.

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According to Express, even as late as 2022, peanut butter wasn't particularly popular in Russia, although it could be found in health food stores and larger supermarkets. However, tastes may be shifting. The global consulting firm imarc reports that nowadays, fitness-minded Russians view peanut butter as a convenient workout snack. Since the high-protein and clean-eating trends have taken hold in the country, there's a rising demand for low-sugar and all-natural options. (Let's not spoil it by telling them that peanut butter may not be as healthy as people think.)

However, American brands still don't seem to be a significant factor in Russia. While the USDA reported that Russian retailers were still importing U.S. peanut butter in 2020, it's likely those sales weren't particularly sizable. According to IndexBox, India supplies 85% of Russia's peanut butter and peanut product imports. Uzbekistan is in second place with 13%, which doesn't leave much room for Jif, Skippy, or Peter Pan. It seems like the American Peanut Council ultimately succeeded in popularizing peanut butter in Russia; it just took 30 years, a high-protein trend, and non-American suppliers.