Woolworths Changes 'Offensive' Name For Aussie Favourite To Chicken Kyiv In Solidarity with Ukraine

Australian supermarket giant Woolworths is pulling Chicken Kievs off shelves in solidarity with Ukraine.

But for those of you who love the chicken meal that's filled with garlic buttery goodness, it's not actually going anywhere.

Instead, Woolies is renaming their range to align with the Ukrainian spelling.

The major supermarket revealed they would make the change after discussing it with the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations.

“Kyiv is the globally recognised name of the capital, so it’s only appropriate we reflect that in the labelling of the product,” a Woolworths spokesman said.

“The name change will be made immediately online, and gradually roll out to our own brand products and signage in-store in the coming weeks.”

The move has been welcomed by Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations chairman Stefan Romaniw, who told News Corp that the name change shows respect for Australian-Ukrainians.

“Woolworths gets it — Ukraine is different to Russia. Ukraine, Ukraine has its own language, its own culture, its own history," he said.

"That’s why using the Russian spelling for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in ‘Chicken Kiev’ has always offended Ukrainians.

“By changing the name of Chicken Kiev to Chicken Kyiv, a major Australian business has shown it stands with Ukraine in support of democracy, decency and peace.

“We hope other food providers can make the same change Woolworths has made. As Ukraine continues to suffer, we invite all Australian businesses to consider how they can be socially responsible and incorporate their values into their business practices.”

While it will take time for Woolies to pull and rebrand their stock, they have already updated their website to align with the updated spelling.

The move comes after UK supermarket Sainsbury's updated their products to dump the Russian spelling of the family-favourite meal.

In an announcement on Friday, Sainsbury's said the new packaging will be rolled out across stores in the coming weeks.

A social media campaign has called on other major grocery stores including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer to change the name of the popular and delicious chicken dish.

The UK supermarket has also pulled items that are '100 per cent sourced from Russia' from its shelves.

“We stand united with the people of Ukraine. We have reviewed our product range and have decided to remove from sale all products that are 100 per cent sourced from Russia,” a statement said.

“This means that from today we will no longer sell two products – Russian Standard vodka and Karpayskiye black sunflower seeds.”

Featured Image Credit: Oleksandr Prokopenko/Sammy/Alamy

Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Sainsbury's, Food And Drink

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

@rlangjournalist