Trader Joe’s is urged to follow the example of other national food and brand-change companies that critics perpetuate racial stereotypes.
An online petition asks the company to “remove racist brands and packaging from its stores,” including international foods that carry the names of Trader Ming’s, Trader José, and Trader Giotto’s. Those products and others reflect “a narrative of exoticism that perpetuates harmful stereotypes,” according to the petition, which had been signed by more than 1,500 people on Sunday.
“They are racist because they exoticize other cultures, they present ‘Joe’ as the normal default, and then the other characters, like Thai Joe, Trader José, Trader Joe San, fall outside of it,” said Briones Bedell, 17. , who initiated the petition.
A spokeswoman for Trader Joe said in a statement that the company had decided to ditch the names and rename its international foods with the name of Trader Joe.
“While this approach to product naming may have originated in a lighthearted attempt at inclusion, we recognize that it may now have the opposite effect, one that is contrary to the welcoming and rewarding customer experience that we strive to create. days, “said Kenya Friend-Daniel, the company’s national public relations director. “With this in mind, we made the decision several years ago to use only the Trader Joe name in our products in the future.”
Ms. Friend-Daniel did not say when the change would be completed, but said the company hoped to end “very soon” and was in the process of updating the labels on the older products.
“The packaging for a number of products has already been changed, but there are a small number of products where the packaging is still going through the process,” he said.
Ms. Bedell, a high school senior and human rights activist, said “the brand remains on the shelves and is not addressed” at her Trader Joe’s location in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“There are a lot of products in their stores, and I think it is still important, the request is still important, because Trader Joe’s lacks the urgency in the current climate to remedy the problem,” he said.
The call for Trader Joe’s to renew its international foods comes as national unrest fueled by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis has prompted other food companies to announce that they were re-evaluating or eliminating brands that use racist imagery.
Last month, Quaker Oats announced that it would withdraw the name and character of Aunt Jemima, who had been associated with her popular pancake and syrup mix for more than a century. Mars Food, which makes Uncle Ben’s rice, quickly said it would “evolve” the brand’s distinctive character, a smiling older black man, without offering details or a specific schedule. Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream said it would change the name and marketing of its Eskimo Pie chocolate-covered ice cream bars.
Trader Joe’s first store opened in 1967 in Pasadena, California, and today the chain has more than 500 stores across the United States. Its founder, Joseph Coulombe, died in February at the age of 89.
