Swedish burger chain ditches Dole over Bananas!* lawsuit
Swedish hamburger chain Max has said it will stop selling Dole fruit salad in retaliation for the US food giant’s bid to muzzle a Swedish documentary film about the company.
“We don’t like Dole’s actions. Suing a filmmaker instead of having a dialogue is despicable,” said Max CEO Richard Bergfors to the Realtid.se news website.
Bergfors' decision to have his company boycott Dole products comes following reports that the food company continues its legal fight to stop Bananas!*, a film by Swedish documentary filmmaker Fredrik Gertten, from being released.
The film depicts the plight of a group of Nicaraguan workers as they pursue complaints that Dole made them sterile by using banned pesticides on the banana fields in which they worked.
Bergfors took the decision after learning from a customer about Dole’s lawsuit against Gertten.
While he hasn’t seen the film, Bergfors said he plans to do so.
In the mean time, he is moving ahead with plans to remove Dole products from the Max menu.
“It’s important for us to show Dole that this isn’t acceptable,” Bergfors told Realtid.se.
“I think Dole risks losing more customers on account of their misguided actions. In Sweden we believe in open dialogue and debate. Everyone can make mistakes, but then you have to admit it.”
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“We don’t like Dole’s actions. Suing a filmmaker instead of having a dialogue is despicable,” said Max CEO Richard Bergfors to the Realtid.se news website.
Bergfors' decision to have his company boycott Dole products comes following reports that the food company continues its legal fight to stop Bananas!*, a film by Swedish documentary filmmaker Fredrik Gertten, from being released.
The film depicts the plight of a group of Nicaraguan workers as they pursue complaints that Dole made them sterile by using banned pesticides on the banana fields in which they worked.
Bergfors took the decision after learning from a customer about Dole’s lawsuit against Gertten.
While he hasn’t seen the film, Bergfors said he plans to do so.
In the mean time, he is moving ahead with plans to remove Dole products from the Max menu.
“It’s important for us to show Dole that this isn’t acceptable,” Bergfors told Realtid.se.
“I think Dole risks losing more customers on account of their misguided actions. In Sweden we believe in open dialogue and debate. Everyone can make mistakes, but then you have to admit it.”
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