Trader Joe’s says no to name changes for ethnic-sounding labels

Rick Bowmer / AP

Trader Giotto’s Penne Arrabbiata is featured starting Friday, July 31, 2020 from Trader Joe’s in Salt Lake City. Popular grocery chain Trader Joe’s says it will not change the ethnic-sounding labels on its line of Mexican, Chinese and other international foods, adding that they are not racist. Earlier this month, the company said it was considering changing some labels. But now he says he has no problem with ethnic food labels like Trader Jose’s, Trader Ming’s, and Arabian Joe. Other Trader Joe names cited include Arabian Joe for Middle Eastern cuisine, Trader Giotto for Italian, and Trader Joe San for Japanese cuisine.

By John Rogers, Associated Press

Friday July 31, 2020 | 5:44 p.m.

LOS ANGELES Trader Joe’s, which said earlier this month it was preparing to change the names of some of its products after an online petition denounced them as racist, now says it is will stick to labels like Trader Jose’s and Trader Ming’s for Mexican and Asian cuisine.

We want to be clear: we don’t agree that none of these labels are racist, ”the famous grocery chain said in a statement posted on its website. She added: “We don’t make decisions on the basis of petitions.

The petition posted to change.org by a high school student claims the names create an exotic narrative that perpetuates harmful stereotypes.

Other Trader Joe names cited include Trader Giotto and Trader Joe San for Italian and Japanese foods.

After the petition was launched, Trader Joe’s issued a statement indicating that it is in the process of updating these product labels.

While this approach to product naming may have been rooted in a mild attempt at inclusion, we recognize that it can now have the opposite effect, which runs counter to the welcoming and rewarding customer experience that we strive to achieve. create every day, Kenya Friend- Daniel company spokesman said at the time.

But in its recent statement, the grocery chain said it still believes the names, mostly created decades ago, represented light efforts to be inclusive, adding that its customers say they love them. always.

We thought then and still do that this product denomination could be fun and show our appreciation for other cultures, the company added.

This was news for Briones Bedell, the high school student from the San Francisco Bay area who started the petition.

It appears to be this complete reversal of their previous commitment to remove international food names that the company itself has described as not conducive to creating a welcoming customer experience, she told the Associated Press.

In an email Friday, Friend-Daniel said the company had indeed dropped some names over the years, including Arabian Joe’s and Armenian Joe’s, and may drop others in the future. But it will only be on the contribution of its employees and customers and not on Bedell’s petition.

In the future, we will continue to evaluate products with name variations that remain in our stores, ”said Friend-Daniel. If we find that certain product and / or product names do not resonate with customers, we will not hesitate to make changes.

Bedell, who described herself and her family as frequent buyers of Trader Joe’s until she started her petition, said she still found the names in question offensive.

But she didn’t start her petition, she said, before delving into the history of the company founded by the late Joe Columbe in 1958.

The chain’s website describes how its name and South Pacific decor was inspired by its reading of the book White Shadows in the South Seas and a ride on the Disneyland Jungle Boat Cruise, a comedic attraction that takes people along the rivers populated by rhinos, native headhunters and others who threaten to attack them.

She saw the book and the merry-go-round as being filled with racist stereotypes of native savages and white gods that she says Trader Joe has appropriated to sell food and drink.

Its aim is to enable the consumer to develop this perceived sophistication through their knowledge of worldliness through their choice of food, she said. But it is not a celebration or a cultural performance. It is exoticism. These marks are shells of the cultures they represent.

Although her petition garnered more than 5,000 signatures on Friday, it brought Bedell intense love at first sight on social media, where she was the frequent target of vile and sexist slurs and other slurs.

Interestingly, she said, criticism has come from all walks of life, with Conservatives denouncing her for promoting the culture of cancellation while the Liberals accusing her of wasting time on a trivial matter.

Despite this, she wants the debate to continue.

I was just so grateful that it sparked so many conversations like that, she says. I hope that in any future endeavor, I can act as a facilitator so that people can form their opinion on what is right.