- The CEO of Denmark's largest retailer said it will start labeling goods made by European companies.
- A spokesperson told BI that customers had asked for greater clarity, but weren't rejecting US goods.
- However, the move comes amid souring relations over Trump's comments about taking over Greenland.
The CEO of Denmark's largest retailer said that his company will start marking its goods to indicate which ones are made by European companies, in what he described as a response to customer demand.
Anders Hagh, CEO at Salling Group, wrote in a LinkedIn post on Thursday about the move, saying they'd received inquiries from a number of customers who wanted to buy groceries from European brands.
"Our stores will continue to have brands on the shelves from all over the world, and it will always be up to customers to choose," he added.
Hagh shared a sample image showing a black star on a pricing label to show the product's European origin.
The move comes amid strained transatlantic relations and widespread public outrage at President Donald Trump's repeated comments about how the US should take control of Greenland, which is part of Denmark.
Salling Group, which commands about 36% of the Danish market, operates more than 1,700 stores across countries including Denmark, Poland, and Germany, including the Netto supermarket chain, the føtex department store, as well as hypermarket Bilka. They reported a combined revenue of more than $9.8 billion in 2023.
In his post, Hagh made no reference to the tensions with the US but said that the Salling Group had recently received inquiries from customers who wanted to buy goods from European brands.
Christoffer Green Sørensen, a company spokesperson, told Business Insider that the group's customers had "not made inquiries regarding a boycott of the USA," adding: "They have solely requested more explicit information about European ownership."
He added that the change is set to come into its Danish stores "within two to three weeks," with the possibility of rolling it out across German and Polish stores later.
Public sentiment in Denmark has soured since President Donald Trump's Greenland comments.
Mette Heerulff Christiansen, the owner of a delicatessen store, told Danish TV earlier this month that "Trump has only been president for a month, and we have already felt that our customers have an opinion."
She added: "I actually think it's the start of something that could almost become a movement here in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe."
Trump's sharp criticisms of European and NATO policies have also set alarm bells ringing for the status of the transatlantic relationship.
A Danish group titled "Boycott goods from the USA," created in response to what it described as a trade war by Trump, has more than 36,000 members on Facebook.
Meanwhile, an English-language subreddit named r/buyfromEU, set up less than two weeks ago, has 57,000 members and counting.
