Danish retailer launches label to help shoppers avoid US products

Salling has created a star-shaped label to indicate that a brand is European. Denmark’s largest food retailer stresses it is not boycotting anyone, but it is responding to a demand from customers that want to avoid American products.

“No boycott”

United States President Trump’s threats to take over Danish Greenland has caused a rise in anti-American sentiments in Denmark, says Salling Group. The company is the country’s largest supermarket group with more than 1,400 stores and a market share of 34 % with its supermarket chains Bilka, Føtex and Netto.

CEO Anders Hagh has stated that his company has received questions from customers who prefer European brands for their shopping. That is why his company is introducing a star-shaped label on its electronic price tags, Hagh posted on LinkedIn.

The five-pointed star will indicate that a certain brand is owned by a European company. The retailer says it wants to make it easier for its customers to buy European products. It is not a boycott, Hagh emphasises: the stores continue to offer brands from all over the world on their shelves, including from the United States.

“More to come”

Belgian supermarkets have not yet joined the experiment, local newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen writes. However, Jorg Snoeck thinks that this may be the beginning of a broader movement. “What has happened in recent weeks is accelerating awareness. Consumers are increasingly starting to think before they buy something”, the RetailDetail founder predicts.

Snoeck therefore does not think that this will be limited to one Danish supermarket group: “If the United States government starts levying import duties, there will undoubtedly be a reaction. And if a packet of cookies that was imported from the US becomes 25 % more expensive, for example, I do not think that many people will be inclined to buy them. They will reach for another brand instead, and the same likely applies to all other products from the US as well.”