Rot Front Open Joint-Stock Company () is one of the oldest Russian confectionery manufacturers and a member of

United Confectioners United Confectioners (russian: Объединённые кондитеры, Obedinyonnye konditery) is a Russian confectionery holding. Through its subsidiaries it produces chocolate bars, cakes, cookies and candies. The holding owns brands such as ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

. Rot Front produces over 200 types of

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

and sells in all Russian regions,

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

countries, Western Europe, North America and the Middle East.

Early History

Founded in 1826 by the Lenov merchants as a home family confectionery workshop for the production of

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

, the workshop was located in the area of old Moscow - in Zamoskvorechye, on Malaya Bolvanovka street (2nd Novokuznetskiy lane) next to the

Church of the Savior on Bolvany Church of Transfiguration of Savior in Bolvanovka (russian: Храм Спаса Преображения на Болвановке), also abbreviated to ''Saviour in Bolvanovka'' (Спас на Болвановке), is an Orthodox church in Zamos ...

. The main products of the first years were lollipops, with the workshop processing 80 kilograms of sugar a day. Lollipops were sold at festivities, fairs and auctions. Gradually, the production of confectionery products increased. In 1830, Antip Lenov opened his own confectionery. In 1886, the workshop passed to Lenov's grandson - Georgy (1853-1912) and his wife Catherine Sergeevna Lenova. Since that time, the family gradually bought up confectionery establishments around them and by 1895, employed 69 people. Георгий Ленов

In 1897, Georgy Lenov entered the

merchant class The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

, becoming a merchant of the 2nd guild. In 1900, the workshop received the name "Trading House of G. and E. Lenova", and registered its own trademark. The trademark showed two graceful fruit trees with intertwined crowns, and below, between the roots, were placed letters - the initials of the owners: G., E., L. (Georgy and Ekaterina Lenov); the image of the brand name was placed on various types of packaging: on labels, on boxes, on tin cans, and even just on bags for selling loose confectionery products. Soon the Lenovs opened their first own establishment. Their son Nikolai (1885-1952) and his wife Nadezhda (1883-1963) also took part in management. The merchants fled the country before the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, and in November 1918, by decree of the Sovnarkoma, the factory was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

After 1918

The company acquired its present name from

Roter Frontkämpferbund The (, translated as "Alliance of Red Front-Fighters" or "Red Front Fighters' League"), usually called (RFB), was a far-left paramilitary organization affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the Weimar Republic. It was off ...

, after their Communist slogan Rot Front!, during the 1931 delegation visit by

Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed Marxist-Leninist and Stalinist, Thälmann played a major r ...

. In 1971, it was merged with the Moscow Marat Confectionery Factory (until 1920 known as the "Steam Factory of Chocolate, Cocoa, Coffee and Sweets of the A. and S. Ivanovs Trading House"). In 1976, Rot Front was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

. In 1980, it became the second, (after the Estonian factory Kalev), Soviet enterprise to successfully produce chewing gum. In 1992, Rot Front was privatized, and in 2002 it became a part of

. In 2014, the owners transferred part of the factory's territory for housing development. Today the company produces close to 25,000 tons of sweets a year and employs over 3,000 people.

References

{{Authority control Companies established in 1826 Russian brands Soviet brands Food and drink companies of the Soviet Union 1826 establishments in the Russian Empire Companies nationalised by the Soviet Union United Confectioners Companies based in Moscow