‘Offensive’ Coon cheese brand gone within weeks as Cheer rollout begins

It was once a staple of supermarket shelves, but Coon cheese is finally vanishing – and the man who campaigned for it to go is delighted.

Within weeks, a once-iconic Australian food brand, now deemed “offensive,” will have vanished from supermarket shelves.

The owners of Coon cheese flagged at the end of 2020 that the name was destined for the dustbin due to it now being known chiefly as a racial slur.

Six months later, that is finally happening, with the rebranded Cheer cheese now popping up in store fridges next to the soon to be superseded Coon.

Dr Stephen Hagan, an Indigenous activist who has campaigned for decades to get rid of the Coon name, said today that it was “great work” by the brand’s owners to fulfil their commitment to phase out the brand.

“That Coon cheese fella finally got his way,” he told news.com.au.

But he was “disappointed” in how the aspects of the transition was handled.

Coon cheese will be no more within weeks. Picture: Peter Ristevski

The cheese’s owners, Saputo Dairy Australia, said it was “excited” that the Cheer brand would begin to be seen in most stores from July.

However, several supermarkets in Sydney have Cheer cheese on the shelves already. Dr Hagan himself spotted the two brands alongside one another at a Townsville Woolworths.

The cheeses themselves – mostly cheddar blocks and slices – will still be available, but under the Cheer name.

Coon cheese alongside its replacement Cheer cheese at a Sydney supermarket. Picture: Benedict Brook

Coon to Cheer renaming

The renaming of the cheese sparked fierce debate in Australia between those who said it was merely a family name and those who asserted the more widely known slur meant it should no longer be used.

Kraft Australia introduced what was then called Red Coon cheese in 1931. The coon name derived from the work of Edward William Coon of Philadelphia who developed a technique of ripening cheese using humidity and high temperatures, which became known as the “cooning” method.

However, Australia’s Coon cheese does not use this ripening method nor was it made by Edward Coon or his company. Rather, it was ostensibly named in honour of Mr Coon. At the time it was created, the racial slur was in use in Australia.

The cheese has gone through various owners with ongoing calls to rename the brand, including from Dr Hagan, who first made the request in 1999.

Coon passed into the hands of Canadian diary giant Saputo with chief executive officer Lino A Saputo announcing the rebrand to Cheer late last year.

“Although we’ve only owned it since 2015 it was important for us to understand that name did not please other consumers,” he said at the time.

Responding to criticism the brand was named after Mr Coon rather than a racist slur, and therefore should stay, Mr Saputo said you couldn’t ignore what the name was primarily known for.

“We thought there was no harm in changing the name.”

Stephen Hagan first called out Coon in 1999 (above).

A picture of Dr Hagan today, 22 years after his campaign began, with Cheer cheese in a Woolworths store. Picture: Stephen Hagan

‘That cheese fella finally got his way’

Dr Hagan, who has written a book on his campaign called Coon: More Holes than Swiss cheese, told news.com.au he was so overcome by seeing the new brand in Woolies he asked a customer to take a snap of him holding both the Coon and Cheer blocks.

“The photographer must have thought I had a love affair with the cheeses,” he said.

“The bloke was from Paris through so I didn’t bother to go into the 21-year history of my very public fight against this grossly offensive brand name for a yellow piece of cheese,” he said.

“As he was taking the photos I noticed many locals looking with frowns on their faces, I was cognisant of the fact that they were aware and possibly thinking, ‘that Coon cheese fella finally got his way’.”

Over the years, Dr Hagan said he has received racist abuse and even death threats due to his stance.

He praised Saputo for taking the initiative but has questioned the once-celebrated origin story of the name.

“I do acknowledge the great work done by Saputo to make good on their promise to replace Coon with Cheer,” he said.

“However, I am disappointed the narrative of the reason behind the change has not included the deceit of saying it was named after Edward William Coon following his 1926 patent.”

Dr Hagan noted that Saputo, which also owns the Devondale, King Island Dairy and MilLel brands, has removed a page from the Coon website that delved into the history of the name.

Cam Bruce, commercial director of Saputo Dairy Australia, told news.com.au that Cheer had started rolling out at select supermarkets this week.

“For the majority of consumers, Cheer will start appearing on major supermarket shelves from early July,” he said.

RELATED: All the ‘racist’ names being changed

Nestle has announced the new names for two of its popular lolly products. Red Skins will be known as Red Ripper and Chicos will become Cheekies. Picture: Supplied via NCA NewsWire

Coon one of several brands and place names changed

Earlier this year, it was proposed that Coon Island, on Lake Macquarie 25km south of Newcastle, be renamed.

Liberal councillor Kevin Baker proposed the motion. He told news.com.au Coon Island was named after Herbert Heaney who, in 1915, was the first recorded permanent resident on the island.

“This is a different situation to Coon cheese. Herbert Heaney was a white guy who worked in coal mines and would come out with coal dust on his face and got the nickname ‘coon’; it’s just not appropriate in this day and age,” he said.

“This name is very offensive to some in our community, has genuine racist connotations and I think there is a better way to represent the history of this island.”

Chief executive officer of the Bahtabah Local Aboriginal Land Council Carol Proctor said she hoped a “respectful name” was chosen.

Coon is not the only dubious Australian brand that is on the way out due to claims of racism.

Allen’s Red Skins and Chicos lollies are being renamed Red Rippers and Cheekies. Owner Nestle said the names were “out of step with the company’s values”.

And Uncle Ben’s rice will become Ben’s Original and the image of a black man will be removed from packs following criticism.

If you have a need to keep some Coon cheese packaging for posterity, you have just a few weeks to buy some before it’s wall to wall Cheer.

Originally published as ‘Offensive’ Coon cheese brand gone within weeks as Cheer rollout begins