- Whole Foods is facing a backlash on Twitter after a restaurant called Yellow Fever opened in its new 365 store in Long Beach, California.
- The restaurant is not owned by Whole Foods. It is an independent company that has partnered up with the grocery chain to open in its store.
- The owner of "Yellow Fever," originally from South Korea, told Next Shark that she chose the name because it was "shocking."
Whole Foods' new store opening took an unexpected turn this week.
On Wednesday, the grocery chain opened its new 365 location in Long Beach, California, which included the opening of a new restaurant called "Yellow Fever."
The restaurant is not owned by Whole Foods. It is owned and operated by an independent chain, which has two other locations in California.
Some Whole Foods shoppers are up in arms on Twitter, claiming that this is an offensive and racist name, believing it to be part of the Whole Foods empire.
Whole Foods did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
"Gosh. Nothing like a racist meal that might *also* give you a horrific disease," one Twitter user wrote.
—Prop. Bros Dance Coordinator (@WhatAreNext) April 25, 2018
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The co-founder of Yellow Fever, Kelly Kim, who is originally from South Korea, explained how she came up with the name in an interview Next Shark last year:
“When we finally came up with the concept, all the names we thought of just plain sucked. Buzzwords like ‘traditional’, ‘bamboo’, ‘lotus’, and ‘golden’ weren’t memorable," she said.
“One night, we just said ‘Yellow Fever!’ and it worked. It’s tongue-in-cheek, kind of shocking, and it’s not exclusive — you can fit all Asian cultures under one roof with a name like this. We just decided to go for it," she added.
Kim told Business Insider:
"Yellow Fever celebrates all things Asian: the food, the culture and the people and our menu reflects that featuring cuisine from Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Hawaii. We have been a proud Asian, female-owned business since our founding over four and a half years ago in Torrance, California," she said.
