Chandarana Foodplus apologises for racially insensitive email
A Chandarana store in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The leaked email was sent by a marketing specialist the firm said was not proficient in English.
- Chandarana Foodplus issued an apology which infuriated many others because of poor grammar.
- The supermarket said the email does not “reflect” on the chain’s values,
Chandarana Foodplus supermarket has been forced to apologise after an email they circulated to their managers on how to attract white customers went viral.
The email sent by Mrs Rima Patel, who the retailer said is a recent hire in its marketing department, asked managers to target white shoppers with gift vouchers.
“We are delighted to inform you that our supermarket chain would like to give you free vouchers to winner/raffles/best performer/runners up candidate in upcoming events. As we are now focusing on white people to attract our supermarkets,” part of the email read.
The offending email from Chandarana Foodplus supermarket that has outraged Kenyans. PHOTO | COURTESY
The supermarket has since issued an apology but blamed the wording of the email on the marketing specialist, who they said has a poor grasp of the English language.
“Chandarana Foodplus would like to sincerely apologise for the unfortunate and insensitive narrative written on email by one of our very new and recent hires in the marketing department,” the statement read in part.
An apology message by Chandarana Food Plus Supermarket over a statement deemed discriminatory. PHOTO | COURTESY
'INCIDENT INEXCUSABLE'
The supermarket said the mistake is inexcusable and an embarrassment.
The supermarket said the email does not “reflect” on the chain’s values, insisting they have been serving all the Kenyan demographics over the last 50 years.
