The Russian pickles that were made in Vietnam

I have recently bought jars of cornichon pickles that were claimed to be made in Russia. The import enterprise is also located at the China Russia border. When the jars arrived I realized the pickles were made in Vietnam. Ha Nam province to be exact.

There are a few angles of seeing the discrepancy. The boring angle that claims “the Vietnamese took ur jerbs”. The cliche and pedantic angle that always mentions the fluidity of capitals here and there, and how capitals heartlessly alienate products from workers.

If you think about this it is far more intriguing. The Russians sell the pickles made in Vietnam, just as Americans sell the phones made in China. Basically Russians sell a brand and Vietnamese sell the material. A brand comes in its current form through a marketing process that involves cultural influence (why Russian pickles are perceived authentic and high taste), social influence (the relationship between Russian and Chinese importers at the border), and political structure (commercial ties among Rs, Cn and Vn).

A product bypassed several thousand miles over China to Russia and was then sold back to China, it could have been sold directly to China for less physical distance and logistics. But it is not the case. The brand makes more money over material, and a Chinese person like me typically associate good pickles with Russia, not Vietnam where they don’t even eat Cornichon pickles much. Brand over material, social distance over physical distance as I have discussed in an earlier post, are a trend in a anti-real world. However, the pickle you eat is a material after all, and this jar from Vietnam the original producer does taste great.