Aunt Jemima pancake brand will now be called the Pearl Milling Company

It’s official. The Aunt Jemima brand will now be known as the Pearl Milling Company.

The announcement comes after PepsiCo said they would change the name and logo of the 130-year-old brand due to its origins which were rooted in racial stereotypes.

“This name is a nod to where our delicious products began before becoming a family-favorite breakfast staple,” PepsiCo said, according to CNN Business. “While the Aunt Jemima brand was updated over the years in a manner intended to remove racial stereotypes, it has not progressed enough to appropriately reflect the dignity, respect and warmth that we stand for today.”

PepsiCo revealed the news on February 9 and stated that products with the new name and logo will hit shelves in June 2021.

According to a statement from the company, Pearl Milling Company was founded in 1888 in St. Joseph, Missouri. The range of products, which included the iconic self-rising pancake mix, was later branded as “Aunt Jemima.”

Quaker Oats Company, a PepsiCo company, signed a contract to purchase the brand in 1925. Over the years the brand’s image was updated, though despite calls for change, it always remained an image that many criticized as a stereotype.

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According to the statement, PepsiCo worked with “external cultural and subject-matter experts” as well as consumers, employees, and “diverse agency partners” in order to come up with the Pearl Milling Company name.

The company will also be committing $1 million to Black women and girls, though the details have not been released. The $1 million is in addition to the $400 million PepsiCo pledged to donate over a 5-year period.

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