A Danish Supermarket Hits Back at US Tariffs
As anti-American sentiment grows across Europe, one retailer is giving shoppers a way to avoid products made in the US.
Illustration: Maggie Cowles for Bloomberg
Between the peaceful Copenhagen waterfront and the city’s traffic-clogged 02 ring road, the Fisketorvet shopping mall has become a battleground in the global trade wars. On the mall’s first floor, Kirsten Mogensen is holding a pack of rice noodles and pondering how her shopping habits can fight back against the US under President Donald Trump.
As in any European supermarket, products here are sourced from around the world. But last month, this branch of the upmarket grocery store Føtex — along with others owned by Denmark’s Salling Group — introduced a new way for shoppers to avoid buying US products: small black stars that indicate goods made in Europe. In the drinks aisles, the Danish soft drink Faxe Kondi is displayed with a star; nearby Pepsi Max is not. There’s a star for a box of Italian Il Capolavoro wine, but not for Californian pinot noir.