Kansas City small businesses whipping up World Cup flavors and merch for fans this summer

OSBORN, Mo. (AP) — When fans of defending World Cup champion Argentina and Algeria arrive in Kansas City to open the tournament on June 16, they can find a taste of home if some local businesses get it right.

Hen House Markets and Betty Rae's Ice Cream are just two of the dozens of small businesses hoping to boost their bottom line — and have a little bit of fun — when Kansas City helps to host one of the world's biggest sporting events.

In the case of the grocery store chain, that means taste flights inspired by the nations coming to the Midwest this summer, while Betty Rae's has concocted some unique tastes with an eye on fans of teams that will not only play at Arrowhead Stadium but be based in the area.

“I mean, anything that puts Kansas City on a stage is exciting for us. If Kansas City wins, we feel like we win,” said Matt Shatto, the owner of Betty Rae's, which has been voted the city's top ice cream shop for most of the past decade.

“There's a lot of thought and conversation about how many people are going to come, and for us, it's not about the people that are coming, necessarily,” Shatto said. “Our job at the end of the day is to take care of our customers. For those that can't go to the World Cup games or FanFest, we want to bring those festivities to them in their local neighborhood through our scoop shops.”

For Lionel Messi fans, that mean offering a cold, creamy riff on alfajores, the biscuit-like confection popular in Argentina. The ice cream version from Betty Rae's features a dulce de leche base with pieces of the traditional pastry mixed into it.

Argentina's counterparts from Algeria? They can indulge in a take on baklava with honey ice cream, phyllo dough and almonds.

“We have a number of interesting flavors that we're going to be bringing out,” Shatto said.

Local businesses always try to capitalize on major sporting events that bring fans from around the country or around the world, from the Super Bowl to the Olympics. The World Cup dates to 1930, but this version is unique in that it is hosted by three nations, the U.S., Mexico and Canada. FIFA expects to generate a record $11 billion-plus in revenue thanks in part to an expanded 48-team format, ticket sales, sponsorships and licensing agreements.

In Kansas City, local organizers have said they expect more than 600,000 people to visit over the course of the summer. It's a chance for businesses big and small to cash in.

Hen House, which also has some official World Cup merchandise in its stores, and Betty Rae's chose the to offer flavors inspired by the nations playing in the tournament. So did Shatto Milk Co., which still makes weekly porch deliveries to customers in traditional glass bottles, and has revealed nine commemorative flavors for teams making their way to the Heartland.

Orange chocolate for Curacao, for example, chai latte for England and butter pecan for the Netherlands.

“The restaurants and grocery stores are really on the bandwagon, and other people and other companies want to join in the fun,” said Barbara Shatto, whose family runs the century-old fairy farm that serves as the backbone of the company. She is Matt Shatto's mother.

“To have the World Cup being in Kansas City is tremendous for the economy,” she said, “but more, we can meet new friends from other countries and share things that we do in America. For just a little farm like us, they can learn how we make milk, butter, cheese and ice cream, and we can celebrate and learn from them."

Sandlot Goods, which produces apparel and other vintage-style offerings in Kansas City, has unveiled its Summer of Soccer line of shirts emblazoned with “Kansas City” across the front but in the colors of Argentina, Algeria, England and the Netherlands, the four nations that have base camps in the area.

Three KC may best epitomize the mom-and-pop shops leaning into the World Cup fervor, though. A math teacher by day, Brendan Curran runs the apparel company as a sort of one-man band, and his soccer-inspired designs first available on his online store have been picked up by several brick-and-mortar shops throughout the area.

“Shops were pretty pleased with the first run of shirts and they have ordered more, so that bodes well as the World Cup approaches,” Curran said. “I would love for visitors to pick up a piece of Kansas City while they are here.”

AP video journalist Nick Ingram contributed to this report.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

A general view of Arrowhead Stadium as it is rebranded as Kansas City Stadium, Monday, May 11, 2026, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer matches in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

This image made from videos shows special bottles of The Shatto Milk Company milk with flavors themed for participating countries to celebrate the 2026 FIFA World Cup on display Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)

Special flavors of Betty Rae's Ice Cream in anticipation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup are displayed Thursday, April 28, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)

Riley Mustard, a scooper at Betty Rae's Ice Cream, puts an order together on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Kansas City, Mo., as the store prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (AP Photo/Nick Ingram)

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Residents of Vilnius were told to take shelter and Lithuania's president and prime minister were taken to safe locations Wednesday because of an alarm over drone activity near the border with Belarus, underlining jitters on NATO's eastern fringe over incursions related to Russia's war with Ukraine.

An emergency announcement from the military told people in the Vilnius region to “immediately head to a shelter or a safe place.”

The alert, which lasted for about an hour, also led to the closure of the airspace over Vilnius Airport. President Gitanas Nauseda and Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene were taken to shelters, and there was also an evacuation order at Lithuania's parliament, the Seimas, the BNS news agency reported.

It was the first major alert that sent residents and political leaders in a European Union and NATO capital rushing to shelters since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Lithuania borders Russia-allied Belarus to the east and Russia's Kaliningrad exclave to the west. Wednesday's alert came after the military said it detected drone activity in Belarus, but no drones were sighted over Lithuania.

In recent months, Ukrainian drones aimed at Russia have crossed or come down in NATO territory on numerous occasions. Western officials have blamed what they say is likely Russian electronic jamming of the drones. Russia, meanwhile, has renewed threats that it would retaliate if Ukrainian drones are launched from Baltic countries or if those countries are complicit in their use against Russia.

On Tuesday evening, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys wrote on social media that “Russia is deliberately redirecting Ukrainian drones into Baltic airspace while waging smear campaigns” against Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. “It’s a transparent act of desperation — an attempt to sow chaos and distract from a simple reality: (Ukraine) is hitting Russian military machine hard.”

Budrys' comment came hours after a NATO jet shot down a Ukrainian drone over southern Estonia. Ukraine apologized for that “unintended incident,” without specifying what had happened.

Last week, Latvia’s government collapsed following an argument over the handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine. The defense minister was forced to quit after his party withdrew its support for him, and the prime minister then resigned. The governing coalition had been under strain for months over several other issues.

In a recent escalation of aerial attacks, Russia and Ukraine have sometimes fired hundreds of drones a day at each other.

Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that it shot down 131 out of 154 drones that Russia launched overnight. The ones that got past air defenses killed three civilians and wounded 18 others, including two children, officials said.

Ukraine, meanwhile, continued its aerial campaign against Russia’s vital oil industry, with the General Staff reporting its drones struck a major Russian oil refinery and a pipeline pumping station overnight.

Russian media reports also indicated that a chemical plant in the southern Stavropol region was hit and caught fire, although local officials didn’t confirm any direct hit.

The U.K. government, a strong supporter of Ukraine's war effort, has loosened strict sanctions on Russian oil refined into diesel and jet fuel in third countries as prices rise due to the Iran war.

The waiver begins Wednesday and reflects growing supply concerns over certain fuels due to the effective blockade of the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.

That step comes two days after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Washington was granting a 30-day extension for countries to import Russian oil that is already in tankers at sea, a move that is meant to reduce the oil supply shortages.

The announcement marked a continued policy reversal by the Trump administration, which had previously said the sanctions on Russian oil would resume. Originally announced in early March, the temporary waiver on the sanctions was first renewed in April.

Geir Moulson in Berlin, Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal contributed to this report.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Services on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, rescue workers put out a fire of a residential building damaged after a Russian strike on Konotop, Ukraine. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

The phone shows the received message "The Lithuanian military reports: "AIR DANGER. Hurry to cover or a safe place without delay, take care of your loved ones, wait for further recommendations. We will inform you about the end of the danger in a separate message", in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)