COON Cheese Announces New Name After 85 Years!

COON Cheese will be known as CHEER from July following a name change after 85 years. Saputo Dairy Australia confirmed the plans on Wednesday after the company was criticised for using a racist name in the first place.

The decision to change the name, came after a “careful and diligent review of a sensitive situation” by the company after many called for the brand to be dumped. While people have called for Coon to change it’s name for many years now, the debate reached a tipping point in 2020 following the Black Lives Matter movement which swept across the world.

Saputo announced plans to retire the Coon brand last July. “Our decision to change the name of Australia’s much-loved cheese reinforces this commitment to build a culture of acceptance, inclusion and respect where everyone feels a sense of belonging,” the company said in a statement.

“CHEER Cheese is a cheese for everyone, and we trust our valued consumers and those who are new to our products will embrace this new name.”

Coon takes its name from American cheese processor Edward William Coon. However the word is also a racial slur used against people of colour.

The company says that while the name has changed, their much loved products will remain the same. You can expect to see CHEER products with the new name and packaging on supermarket shelves from July.

What do you think of the name change?

Images: Channel Nine News