In an email Friday, Friend-Daniel said the company has indeed dropped some names over the years, including Arabian Joe's and Armenian Joe's, and may drop others in the future. “Moving forward, we will continue to evaluate those products with name variations that remain in our stores," Friend-Daniel said. “If we find certain product names and-or products are not resonating with customers, we won’t hesitate to make changes." Bedell, who described herself and her family as frequent Trader Joe's shoppers until she launched her petition drive, said she always found the names in question offensive. She saw the book and the ride as being filled with racist stereotypes of native savages and white gods that she says Trader Joe's appropriated to sell food and beverages.

Source: International New York Times July 31, 2020 20:51 UTC