Anything with “export” variant was considered better (in consumer goods 100%). Even butter

Which has now looped around because you can get cheap 'export' beer in grocery stores here (western Europe) which is pretty much guaranteed to be produced in the same breweries as the premium brands like Heineken. These breweries never stop producing because empty tanks are wasteful.

Taking an account “growing watermelons”: either Southern Ukraine or somewhere is Caucasus

Watermelons can actually be grown even in Siberia. They will be small and won't taste great, but many people do it just for fun.

Yeah, huge in Central Asia too