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.
Palmetto Cheese Original is On Sale from AUG. 17-30 at all Southeast Region @Costco Warehouses for $1.50 OFF!!! The sale is for the Southeast Region only and does not include Palmetto Cheese w/ Jalapenos. SE Region includes: AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, and TN. #CostcoDeals pic.twitter.com/IBlR72cJji
— Palmetto Cheese (@palmettocheese) August 17, 2020
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.
$2.00 OFF sale at all Southeast region Costco Warehouses ends August 30!! This includes: AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, and TN. #costco #palmettocheese #pimentocheese #lowcarb #glutenfree #ketofriendly pic.twitter.com/FGycfY5fXp
— Palmetto Cheese (@palmettocheese) August 25, 2020
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.
