UK cafe under fire after selling smoothies with Swastika logos

Customers are continuing to call for a more detailed explanation from London cafe Nincomsoup after a customer discovered it was selling a smoothie bearing a Swastika on the label.

The smoothie, named “The Nutzy”, had the ingredients listed on the bottle in the same manner as other pressed juices in the store, but with what appeared to be a Swastika next to the list of the smoothie’s contents, reports The Telegraph.

Nincomsoup issued an apology on its website, stating that a ‘rogue employee’ had been responsible for using the sw… https://t.co/dDMRGiYynJ

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The customer was deeply unhappy with the way the complaint was handled, according to reports, with the Huffington Post reporting the business told her the image on the label was not a Nazi symbol, but was instead the Hindu symbol for prosperity, and the name means “having the nuts” or “having the courage”.

The customer told London media that regardless of the intent of the symbol, the positioning of it next to the name “The Nutzy” was highly offensive.

While the drink was then removed from shelves, customers approached the business with incredulity that such branding could pass through the review of management, with many questioning whether it was a publicity stunt.

However, in an apology posted in full on the Nincomsoup website last night, the founder says he feels “sick to the core” about the incident and that while the business has been characterised as a much larger operation, it only has one full time employee overseeing the management of the business.

“There is no management team. There is no marketing department, and it should be evident from this whole fiasco that we don’t have a social media team either. It’s just me. I spend half my week looking after my elderly mother, and the other half devoted to Nincomsoup,” Ben Page-Phillips said in an apology on the business’s website.

“I gave our now ‘ex’ juicer, the freedom to develop our juice position, and although only with us a few months, he had proved himself a very capable and creative addition to the shop. I cannot tell you what was going through his mind when he created the label. Without doubt it was a gross misjudgment of epic proportions, but I did get to know him well enough to be sure that he does not have a single ounce of malicious intent towards anyone.”

The staff member who was responsible for designing the label has now been dismissed from duties.

While some customers thanked the small business owner for the full apology, others are still questioning how a business can release products without anyone signing off on their appearance.

Read more: Luggage retailer Crumpler cops backlash for advertising a naked woman in a suitcase

“Whilst I’m sure people have every sympathy with your domestic arrangements please do try to remember that other people have their crosses to bear and that they are entirely irrelevant to the situation,” said one customer on Facebook, expressing disappointment that the original complaint was met with little sympathy in store.

“You may well be trying to make a difference, if this is the case, a useful place to start would be treating customers with the respect that they deserve.”