Costco Removes South Carolina Cheese Because BLM

[Mergie Master]

Costco removes popular cheese after Black Lives Matter controversy

Pimento cheese company's owner compared protest movement to 'terror organization'

Costco has stopped carrying products from a pimento cheese brand owned by a South Carolina mayor who called the Black Lives Matter and Antifa movements “terror organizations.”

Brian Henry, the mayor of Pawleys Island and owner of Palmetto Cheese, told the Georgetown Times that the company’s products were being pulled “as a matter of normal business” and that the wholesale retailer rotates items in and out regularly.

“We remain optimistic that Palmetto Cheese will be back on the shelves in the not-too-distant future,” Henry told the Times.

When reached for comment, a Costco representative declined to comment on the Palmetto Cheese brand.

The Georgetown Times published a photo of a sign in the Myrtle Beach Costco store stating that the products were “discontinued and will not be re-ordered by Costco,” adding that the products were being removed from more than 120 Costco locations.

Palmetto faced calls for a boycott from some consumers following Henry’s controversial Facebook post, in which he tied the protest movements to the unrelated fatal shooting of a father and daughter following an auto crash. The victims were white, while the accused killer is Black.

The Georgetown chapter of the NAACP called Henry’s post “racist” and called for him to resign.

Henry has since deleted his post. He also publicly apologized, The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reported.

“My comments were hurtful and insensitive,” he told reporters at a press conference earlier this month.

Henry also asked people calling for a boycott of Palmetto to reconsider.

“Please consider the hundreds of South Carolina jobs that depend on its success,” he said, per The Sun News.

Palmetto Cheese is still sold at more than 9,100 stores in 44 states and Washington, D.C., according to the company’s website.

[SaltMuck]

When I reach for pimento cheese, I reach for Palmetto Cheese. Forget them Costco yuppies.

[Cwaysvt]

I mean...he ain’t wrong.

[JABIII]

I'll miss a few things at Costco, but if it is like all the other bullshit I have cut out in the last 5 months, I won't miss it for long...

[billyjack]

I may have missed it but I didn’t see where Costco stated they were boycotting the cheese. It is all conjecture.

And while I admire the owner calling it like it is, he quickly crawfished and apologized to the communists. He had no reason to apologize. And apologizing for nothing is worse than not speaking up at all. That’s a basic bitch move.

[JABIII]

I may have missed it but I didn’t see where Costco stated they were boycotting the cheese. It is all conjecture.

And while I admire the owner calling it like it is, he quickly crawfished and apologized to the communists. He had no reason to apologize. And apologizing for nothing is worse than not speaking up at all. That’s a basic bitch move.

Ask the 5 dozen employees who were layed off at the Greenville company who supply the Pawley's company with ingredients...

[ersepton]

My wife buys Palmetto Cheese. I still buy Ruth’s. I will eat what she buys, she will not eat what I buy. It works well.

[DRDUCK]

Never ever been in a costco. Never will

[Birddawg]

IS that the cheese with the black woman on the lid? The jalepeno cheese by them on a ribeye is my favorite.

[DRDUCK]

IS that the cheese with the black woman on the lid? The jalepeno cheese by them on a ribeye is my favorite.

Yep

[Birddawg]

Best cheese on earth. Fuck Costco.

[wob]

IS that the cheese with the black woman on the lid? The jalepeno cheese by them on a ribeye is my favorite.

It was. They're removing her likeness.



The focus on Palmetto Cheese also brought to the forefront the woman’s face used on the brand’s packaging — Vertrella Brown, an African American who worked for Henry.

He spent part of his Sept. 3 press conference defending himself and his wife, Sassy, after some had claimed they had stolen the pimento cheese recipe from Brown.

“Unfortunately, there have been comments on social media and news outlets falsely suggesting that Vertrella Brown created the recipe for Palmetto Cheese,” Henry said. “However, that is simply not true. The recipe for Palmetto Cheese is, and always has been, Sassy Henry’s recipe. And that is the same recipe on grocery shelves today.”

Henry also committed to creating a foundation in Brown’s name — whom he called a “dear friend” — focused on aiding race relations in the community, something that was called into question during a Sept. 14 protest by the NAACP.

“First, I suggest that before he names a scholarship after the late, great Ms. Brown, that he go talk to the family,” said Marilyn Hemingway, a member of the NAACP.

According to Henry, a re-branding effort is underway, looking to “be more sensitive to cultural diversity.”

[ReelHard]

Ruth's jalapeno is where it's at anyway

[JJ1965]

Never ever been in a costco. Never will

X2

[Palmetto Bug]

It's been a staple at my house and now I buy an extra tub every time I grocery shop.

It makes a great topping on a tomato pie.

It's also one of the best things to trick a finicky dog into eating a pill.

[fro]

Sassy? Really? Case closed....

[First Coat]

I'm confused. Having the likeness of a black women, who he considers a friend and honors, is wrong?

[Fish]

There’s way too much other shit that pisses me off. I’m gonna give Costco a pass on the pimento cheese topic.

If you’re trying to sell a product, shut your mouth about politics or be prepared for the torpedoes.

[Saltydog235]

Henry didn't crawfish over the cheese, he crawfished because he has political aspirations and needs local support in this small area to move up the ladder.

It's cheese, the entire thing is stupid.

[Saltydog235]

If he had political aspirations outside of being Pawley's mayor, then it's good that those aspirations got nipped in the bud early. You can't say or post on social media what he said and not expect backlash, especially in Georgetown County.

Yep, just saying what the local scuttlebutt is. He screwed up and is done.