Is Aunt Jemima now the Pearl Milling company? Is Aunt Jemima discontinued? An American breakfast brand that offers a wide variety of food products for breakfast, including table syrup, pancake mix, and many more. The company has been there since November 1889, but no more now. Do you know? Why? It is because the company discontinued the brand.
Do you want to explore more about the status of Aunt Jemima and its discontinuation? In this blog, you may get almost all the answers you were searching for before… Let’s go through it…
It is true; the brand was discontinued. But when did it happen? It happened in June 2021; yeah, you read it right; the brand was discontinued in June 2021.
The brand gained popularity when it launched its original version of the pancake mix in 1889. It was developed and advertised by the Pearl Milling Company as a “ready to mix” cooking product.
In the Southern United States, the brand Aunt Jemima became one of the most famous examples of the “Mammy” archetype. In June 2020, Quaker Oats announced that Aunt Jemima would be discontinued due to the “Mammy” stereotype tied to the Jim Crow era.
It also added, “To put a strong foothold in the industry and make progress toward racial equality. The brand Aunt Jemima would be discontinued.” Finally, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the brand’s image was eliminated.
Later, after making an announcement. In June 2021, the brand’s owner discontinued Aunt Jemima.
DiscontinuedNews is impartial and independent, and every day, we create distinctive, world-class programs, news, and content that inform, educate and entertain millions of people worldwide.
What Replaced Aunt Jemima?
The brand Aunt Jemima was discontinued in June 2021 and replaced with Pearl Milling Company. The company manufactured all products along with the original pancake mix product. Even so, the name of Aunt Jemima was still there and used in the tagline of the replaced company. The tagline of the Pearl Milling Company is, “Same great taste as Aunt Jemima.”
It was believed that the role of Aunt Jemima was portrayed by Nancy Green in 1893 at World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Nancy Green was the first black model in the United States. Later, the company hired multiple actors, including Agnes Moody, Lillian Richard, Artie Belle McGinty, Anna Robinson, Rosa Washington Riles, Anna Short Harrington, Edith Wilson, Roose Lie Moore Hall, Aylene Lewis, and Ethel Ernestine Harper to portray the role of the first organized sales promotion campaign.
Who Bought Aunt Jemima Products?
St. Joseph Gazette, Chris L. Rutt and Charles G. Underwood bought a small flour mill at 214 North 2nd St. Underwood’s Pearl Milling Company and St. Joseph Missouri in 1888. It manufactured various products, including cornmeal, wheat flour and several more, using a Pearl Milling Process.
Later, it started to sell flour in paper bags under a generic label. “Self Rising Pancake Flour” was written on its label, which was replaced with “the first ready-mix.”
The very first appearance of Aunt Jemima was based entirely on Nancy Green, a Kentucky native who was a Civil War-era enslaved person from Mount Sterling.
In the image, Aunt Jemima is depicted with a broad smile and a scarf in her hair. Although the image was fine, it was criticized for years because it was accused of encouraging racist stereotypes.
In 1925, Quaker Oats bought Aunt Jemima, and the image was replaced with its logo and name. The new model bears Pearl Milling’s name with no image of Nancy Green.
In February 2021, the product was rebranded, PepsiCo explained those products would be carried under the name of Aunt Jemima, but there was no image of Nancy Green. In June, the debut of Pearl Milling was represented on the bottles of the products. At that time, some products still showed the image on the box.
The brand produces flour, cornmeal, and grits. It is believed that the renewed products of the Aunt Jemima brand had a tagline. The tagline was “New Name, Same Great Taste as Aunt Jemima.” It is mentioned on the new packaging that helps consumers to recognize the product while choosing the store.
Why Was Aunt Jemima Discontinued?
In 2021, customers needed help finding pancake mixes and syrups of the Aunt Jemima brand. It is believed that, at that time, the Pearl Milling Co. brand rebranded all the Aunt Jemima line of breakfast products.
Initially, Quaker Oats announced that it would replace the old packaging of the syrup and pancake mixes of the Aunt Jemima brand due to racial stereotypes. Then, Pearl Milling announced to retire Aunt Jemima.
In June 2020, PepsiCo, a parent company, decided to replace Aunt Jemima’s product packaging, name, and overall image in the renewed wake-up call for racial equality. The new brand name was kept a secret after this decision. Later, it was revealed and put on the store’s shelves.
When Did Renewed Products Of Aunt Jemima Restock In Stores?
According to reports, the renewed products came out only a few months ago, and the transition was expected to take a few months. Later, some of that brand’s new pancake and syrup products were started to be put on the shelves of the stores at a Florida Publix supermarket.
Another supermarket in Culver City, California, had bottles of renewed syrup and pancake items. When the products in the new packaging came into the market, the officials with Pearl Milling Company revealed that they all were starting to be shipped.
The company explained, “To get the products with new packaging on shelves of the stores, Pearl Milling Co. started to work with stores. Now they are expected to be in stores very soon.”
Is Aunt Jemima Still Made?
No, Aunt Jemima is not manufactured anymore… the Pearl Milling Company rebranded the Pancake brand, Aunt Jemima. Its 130-year-old Aunt Jemima brand and logo were rebranded as Quaker Oats in June 2021. The old and offensive image of Aunt Jemima was replaced with a new image by the Quaker Oats.
Final Thoughts On Aunt Jemima Discontinued
We have concluded that, In June 2021, Aunt Jemima was discontinued. Due to racist Stereotypes, the brand rebranded to Pearl Milling Company.
Not only Aunt Jemima but other food brands such as Land O’ Lakes, Cream of Wheat, and Uncle Ben were also replaced with new brands at that same time due to racist stereotypes.
