Disciplinary action has been taken against the employee who drafted the Chandarana Foodplus racist promotion, the supermarket’s management said on Monday.
Rima Patel, a marketing specialist at the store, is accused of authoring an email which said that the supermarket now focuses on white people’.
“We would like to give you free vouchers to winner/raffles/best performer/runners-up candidate in upcoming events.”
“As we are now focusing on white people to ‘attract our supermarkets’ sic,” read the controversial email.
But in a letter to Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, the management said they agreed the email in question may have inadvertently profiled some of its customers.
“We have also commenced disciplinary action on the employee who authored the promotion communication,” director Dipam Thakkar said.
Thakkar also pleaded with the government to spare the business saying it benefits over one million people in both direct and indirect employment.
He said that the supermarket has employed about 1,246 people in various capacities, including management.
“You will be happy to know that out of this number, only 3 per cent are expatriates. We endeavour to employ more of our Kenyan brothers.”
“Generally, our business touches the lives of close to one million people,” Thakkar said.
He added that 95 per cent of their merchandise are sourced from local companies and individuals. The chain store has over 2,500 suppliers.