Eataly Has Taken Mario Batali's Products Off Its Shelves
After celebrity chef Mario Batali was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, he apologized and announced he was stepping away from the day-to-day operations of his businesses. Now, companies previously associated with him are also distancing themselves, and that includes one of his biggest businesses.
Batali is a minority stakeholder in Eataly, a food-store chain that started in Italy, which he helped spread to the United States. Eataly has five locations, with two in New York, and others in Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles. Now, Eataly has taken Batali's products, which range from cookbooks to sauces and olive oils, off the shelves.
A spokesperson for Eataly told Eater that "this move is consistent with Mario Batali not being actively involved with Eataly." Before this week, there was a special webpage that promoted Batali's products on Eataly's website, but that site now redirects to Eataly's homepage.
Eataly is reviewing Batali's involvement in the organization and will figure out "what's best for the company," a spokesperson for Joe Bastianich, a partner in Eataly, told Eater. For now, products from Lidia Bastianich, Joe's mother and a fellow Eataly partner, are taking over the space in stores.
Overall, Eataly gave an official statement about the allegations against Batali:
"The allegations that surfaced this morning concerning Mario Batali's behavior towards women were extremely troubling to us. We fully support Mr. Batali's decision to step away from any active involvement with Eataly. Sexual harassment of any kind towards anyone in any form is unacceptable and Eataly cares deeply about creating a safe and comfortable environment for all our employees and customers, free of harassment, discrimination and retaliation."
So far, the accusations against Batali don't seem to be hurting business at Eataly. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there were plenty of shoppers at Eataly's Los Angeles location and New York Flatiron location after the allegations were made public, and customers did not seem put off from buying products there. And Eater reports that an Eataly is still in the works in Las Vegas.
The restaurants Batali co-owns in New York have also removed his products from their shelves. And Eater also reports that many of his other business partners are cutting ties, too. Target is pulling all of Batali's products from its website and its stores, and Zidian Group, which makes his pasta sauces, says it "will be working to transition products away from the Batali brand." Batali will donate any profits to a charity until then, which has yet to be named.
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