Corby Kummer: Trader Joe's Is 'Finally Saying No To Racist Branding'

Trader Joes Label Change — Responding to calls for Trader Joe's to stop labeling its international food products with ethnic-sounding names, the grocery store chain said it has been in a yearslong process of repackaging those products and will soon complete the work.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

July 24, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Food writer Corby Kummer spoke with Boston Public Radio Friday about Trader Joe's decision to change its branding of certain products that critics say is racist, such as "Trader Ming's" and "Trader José's."

"Trader Joe's is finally saying no to racist branding that perpetuates the worst kind of stereotyping," he said.

Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.