Singapore’s largest supermarket chain will stop selling shark fin products from April after an inflammatory comment by one of its suppliers triggered calls for a boycott from activists and the public.
NTUC FairPrice — a cooperative run by the city-state's national trades union — made the announcement Thursday after receiving hundreds of complaints.
The uproar was sparked by one of the chain’s shark fin suppliers, which made the comment “Screw the divers!” in an online promotional message for a new product to be launched at FairPrice outlets during the upcoming Lunar New Year.
The comment, apparently directed at divers campaigning against the shark fin trade, went viral on Facebook and microblogging site Twitter.
Many of the reactions advocated a boycott of the supplier and FairPrice.
In a statement, FairPrice chief executive Seah Kian Peng said the chain was ceasing sales of shark fin products by the end of March.
“This will be the last Chinese New Year in which customers can buy shark fin products at all our stores,” said Seah.
