Quaker Oats said Tuesday that the mixture of pancakes and syrup from Aunt Jemima will be renamed the Pearl Milling Company. Aunt Jemima’s products will continue to be sold until June, when the packaging will be officially changed.
Quaker Oats, a division of PepsiCo Inc., announced in June last year that it would withdraw Aunt Jemima’s brand, saying the character’s origins were “based on a racial stereotype.” Aunt Jemima’s smiling logo was inspired by the 19th-century minstrel character, a black woman who was content to serve her white masters. A former slave, Nancy Green, became the first pancake maker in 1890.
Quaker Oats bought the Aunt Jemima brand in 1925 and updated the logo over the years in an effort to eliminate negative stereotypes. But in the cultural calculation that followed last summer’s protests, Black Lives Matter, Quaker decided to change its name altogether. Other brands followed, such as Uncle Ben’s rice.
Quaker said the Pearl Milling Company was founded in 1888 in St. Louis. Joseph, Missouri, and was the initiator of the mixture of pancakes with automatic growth. While the brand will be new to store shelves, the boxes and bottles of syrup will still have Aunt Jemima’s familiar red packaging.
Quaker said it has sought input from clients, employees and external cultural experts as it has developed the new brand name.
Quaker said it is also donating $ 1 million to groups that empower black women and girls as part of the Pearl Milling Company launch.
Copyright © 2021 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.