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Who owns Creamalicious? Walmart pulls Juneteenth ice cream after being accused of stealing from Black-owned biz

'Walmart saw a successful small Black business and thought they could get away with stealing their flavor, re-branding it for Juneteenth,' a user said

UPDATE: Since the publishing of the original article Walmart has apologized for its Great Value brand Juneteenth celebration edition of ice cream. A Walmart sokesperson told FOX: "Juneteenth holiday marks a celebration of freedom and independence. However, we received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers and we sincerely apologize. We are reviewing our assortment and will remove items as appropriate.”

As Juneteenth is approaching next month, the Black community is all set to join the annual celebration of Juneteenth as a whole to signify the ending of slavery in America. Many brands have already started rolling their brand strategies out to join the celebration. However, Walmart has received backlash for its inappropriate brand strategy of launching Juneteenth ice cream. The ice cream flavor being promoted by Walmart is believed to be stolen from a successful small Black business.

"Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation, and enduring hope," the label read. The ice cream consisted of a swirl of red velvet and cheesecake flavors. Apparently, this red-velvet flavor is believed to be stolen from a brand called Creamalicious, which launched red-velvet ice cream for Juneteenth. Walmart's Juneteenth icecream received a huge backlash from people and they were quite critical of the ice cream and called out Walmart for its inappropriate branding. After the criticism online, In a statement to FOX Television Stations, Walmart issued a formal apology. It said, “Juneteenth holiday marks a celebration of freedom and independence. However, we received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers and we sincerely apologize. We are reviewing our assortment and will remove items as appropriate.”

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People promoted Creamalicious ice cream instead of Walmart's Juneteenth ice cream. A Twitter user wrote, "Instead of getting that Juneteenth ice cream from Walmart get this instead!! Black owned and it’s good ☺️"

Award-winning podcast host, Tracy aka Bhad Bhonnet wrote, "cant believe walmart is selling kools flavored ice cream for juneteenth smh".

One user wrote, "Red velvet ice cream isn't a new concept; however, Walmart should've worked with a Black brand if they're going to do something for Juneteenth (that, and pay their employees a living wage, but ANYWAY)".

One user called it capitalism. He wrote, "capitalism is awesome". 

Another user wrote, "Walmart literally saw a successful small Black business and thought they could get away with stealing their flavor and re-branding it for Juneteenth. Anyways, Creamalicious is available at Target." 

Who owns Creamalicious?

Creamalicious is owned by Chef Liz Rogers who lives in Ohio. In a report by Southern Living, Chef Liz Rogers said that, "The red velvet cake literally was a celebration cake, it's what African Americans ate to celebrate their freedoms. We talk about the porch light peach cobbler and its very symbolic to 'the light is always on.' If you saw that light on someone's porch it just means welcome…This house is safe."

"Creamalicious is minority and woman-owned, and Chef Liz employs a diverse team while making a point to work with minority and female-owned businesses."

Last year, President Joe Biden signed a bill creating Juneteenth National Independence Day. Since June 19 fell on a Saturday, the government observed the holiday Friday. However, National Independence Day seems to be commercialized by the brands. In a viral video by @KevOnStage, he made it clear how different brands mostly owned by white have commercialized Juneteenth. 

One Twitter user even accused Walmart of trying to “bastardize” Juneteenth with its use of Pan African and Ethiopian flag colors in the packaging designs. One user wrote, "No because the fact that Walmart tried to trademark Juneteenth is the final nail in the coffin for companies using celebrations of certain groups as a marketing scheme".