Coles is slammed for ‘cultural appropriation’ by a Melbourne shopper who took issue with its ‘Indian style triangles’ – but the supermarket has a simple explanation
- A Coles shopper has slammed the supermarket chain for ‘cultural insensitivity’
- They posted a photo of a box of Coles brand ‘Indian Style Triangles’ online
- Social media users were quick to point out the product was clearly samosas
- Coles explained the new flavour variety had been renamed to avoid confusion
A frustrated shopper has slammed popular supermarket chain Coles for ‘cultural insensitivity’ over a frozen snack.
Melbourne customer Om took to social media to rant after discovering a box of Coles brand ‘Indian Style Triangles’ in the freezer aisle.
‘Seriously Australia?’, he captioned a photo of the product which he uploaded to the popular Facebook page ‘Subtle Curry Traits’.
Coles later explained that its new product, which contains jackfruit, had been named this way to avoid confusion with its pre-existing vegetable samosas.
Melbourne customer Om took to social media to rant after discovering a box of Coles brand ‘Indian Style Triangles’ (pictured) in the freezer aisle
But that didn’t stop angry shoppers shaming the supermarket giant.
The disgruntled shopper’s post was quickly flooded with likes and comments from more than 25,000 users who demanded answers for the name.
‘Boycott Coles for cultural insensitivity and ruining a product of heritage?’ one commenter posted.
‘The disrespect in this image’, another user wrote.
‘By this logic they should call pizza “Italian Style Circles”,’ another pointed out.
‘Here we go with the cultural appropriation’, a fourth commented.
Coles confirmed ‘Vegetable Samosas’ were still being sold in stores, but explained the new flavour variety had been renamed to avoid confusion
The supermarket giant has responded to the backlash, claiming the ‘Indian style triangles’ were simply a new flavour being introduced to a pre-existing range.
Coles confirmed Vegetable Samosas were still being sold in stores, but explained the new flavour variety, with jackfruit inside, had been given a different name to avoid confusion.
A spokesperson said the ‘Indian Style Triangles’ are ‘definitely’ samosas.
‘Our traditional Coles Vegetable Samosas are so popular with our customers that when we decided to add a new flavour to the range, we chose to give them a different name so customers could tell them apart easily,’ they said.
‘Jackfruit Indian Style Triangles are definitely samosas and we’ve loved seeing the support for them since they launched.’