Santorini Mayor Slams Lidl, Company Apologizes

German supermarket chain Lidl has apologized for removing the crosses off the packaging of a series of food items after Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos sent a letter of complaint.

The news went viral across Greek social media leading the supermarket operator which is particularly popular with Greeks to apologize, saying its product design was not intended to convey any ideological standpoint.

The “Eridanus” products’ packaging.

“We are sorry for any offence caused by the artwork on our Eridanous range. We can confirm that we will be revising the design as soon as possible,” the company said in a statement.

“We made a mistake in the most recent revision of the product design and are now treating the issue with the highest priority,” Lidl said.

The complaint was over a series of Greek food products, including olive oil, spices and sweet pastries, titled Eridanous which went on sale at all Lidl outlets across central Europe and which depicted on the packaging a photo of Santorini’s Oia and its chapels with the cross airbrushed.

“The removal of the crosses from the domes of the depicted churches of Oia in Lidl’s promotional material and on the packaging of Greek-themed products ‘Eridanous’ is an insult and demonstrates lack of respect for Greek and particularly Thira societies,” Zorzos said in the letter.