Trader Joe's to change branding after petition calls it 'racist'

Supermarket chain says product naming approach 'may have been rooted in a lighthearted attempt at inclusiveness'

Trader Joe’s says it will change its ethnic food package labelling after a petition called the supermarket’s brands “Trader Ming’s” and "Trader Jose's” “racist”.

As of Monday, the Change.org petition “demanding” the grocery store chain change its food packaging has been signed more than 2,500 times.

“We demand that Trader Joe’s remove racist branding and packaging from its stores,” the petition states. “The grocery chain labels some of its ethnic foods with modifications of ‘Joe’ that belies a narrative of exoticism that perpetuates harmful stereotypes.”

Referencing the store’s “Trader Ming’s, “Arabian Joe”, “Trader José”, “Trader Giotto’s”, and “Trader Joe San” brands, the petition says that the “branding is racist because it exoticises other cultures” and “it presents ‘Joe’ as the default ‘normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it”.

In a statement, the grocery store addressed the allegations and said it has been updating the labels and would continue to do so “until we complete this important work."

"While this approach to product naming may have been rooted in a lighthearted attempt at inclusiveness, we recognise that it may now have the opposite effect - one that is contrary to the welcoming, rewarding customer experience we strive to create every day," Kenya Friend-Daniel, a spokesperson for Trader Joe's, said in a statement to ABC News.

"We have been in the process of updating older labels and replacing any variations with the name Trader Joe's, and we will continue to do so until we complete this important work."

According to Friend-Daniel, Trader Joe’s does not currently have an “exact date” for the change, but said the store expects to “have the work completed very soon.”

“Packaging for a number of the products has already been changed, but there’s a small number of products in which the packaging is still going through the process,” he added.

In response to the company’s statement, the petition’s organisers called on the store to remove the products that “the company recognises have not been inclusive”.

"If a date cannot be established, we ask that Trader Joe’s immediately remove all products that the company recognises have not been inclusive and have not cultivated a welcoming, rewarding customer experience,” the petition reads.

The store’s announcement comes after numerous other companies have changed their branding recently amid ongoing conversations around racism in the US.

In June, Quaker Oats announced it would be changing the name and brand imagery associated with Aunt Jemima in an effort to “make progress towards racial equality.”

The Independent has contacted Trader Joe’s for comment.