Trader Joe’s to change some product labels amid claims of racist branding

The grocery chain Trader Joe’s is expected to replace product labels for some of its international food items in the midst of growing complaints and petitions that the branding is racist.

Labels such as “Trader José’s,” “Trader Ming’s” and “Arabian Joe’s” were called out in a petition on Change.org for perpetuating stereotypes. The petition said “it exoticizes other cultures—it presents ‘Joe’ as the default ‘normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it.”

In response, a spokesperson told NPR that the company had already decided years ago to use the Trader Joe’s name on all its products going forward. The company’s response said it “had hoped that the work would be complete by now but there are still a small number of products going through the packaging change and we expect to be done very soon.”

The announcement comes in the wake of several other name changes for well-known brands such as Aunt Jemima syrup and the Redskins NFL franchise in response to racial justice protests.

Read on for the rest of the story from a July 20 NPR report.