Supermarket changes name of chicken product to support Ukraine

A supermarket in the UK has changed the name of a chicken dish in support of Ukraine following Russia's invasion.

Popular grocery chain Sainsbury’s announced on Friday it would replace the name of its chicken Kiev with 'chicken Kyiv'.

The new packaging will be rolled out in the next few weeks, The Independent reports.

In a statement, the supermarket reinforced its support for war-torn Ukraine and said it was also ditching Russian products.

“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,” the statement reads.

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

The decision to rebrand the chicken dish came after people called on supermarkets around the world to act. Even in Australia, Coles and Woolworths were urged to rename their products.

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The origins of the chicken dish seem to be disputed, though there are claims it was invented by a Ukrainian chef in Moscow in the 1800s.

Farmison and Co, an online butcher based in the UK who has also renamed their chicken Kyiv, said in a statement "the 'Kiev' is thought to have been created by a Ukrainian chef in the 19th century. He was from Kyiv but the dish is thought to be a Russian delicacy of old".

"Regardless of the origins, we find it only right to rename in honour of its Ukrainian creator. Join us and many others and #cookforukraine at home."

Proceeds of butcher's chicken Kyiv will go to a UNICEF campaign supporting displaced children and families.

In 2018, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with StratCom Ukraine launched the online campaign 'KyivNotKiev'.

The idea behind the campaign was to encourage foreign media to use the correct spelling of Kyiv, when referring to the capital of Ukraine.

"It's time to get rid of Ukraine's Soviet spelling past," Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in 2018.

With AP

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