But you might be seeing a different name above its doors in future if Iceland (the country) has anything to say about it.
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A cold war is in the offing after the Icelandic government confirmed it could be set to launch a legal effort to force Shropshire-founded supermarket chain Iceland to change its name.
The supermarket chain Iceland is facing a possible lawsuit that will demand the Deeside based company relinquishes its use of the brand name Iceland within the European Union.
Promote Iceland said that it has no intention of forcing Iceland Foods to give up its brand, but wants to ensure that the supermarket does not prevent Icelandic firms from registering the name “Iceland” across the United Kingdom or EU.
Iceland (supermarket) has been trading since the 70s and does so around the world and its spokesperson expressed surprise, saying they weren’t aware that their name had “ever caused confusion with Iceland the country”.
Jon Asbergsson, who heads the Scandinavian nation’s tourism body ‘Promote Iceland’, told the BBC: “We didn’t make any objections in the beginning, as we were never going to be running any supermarkets”. But the next day, Iceland Foods made a decision to have a bit of banter with Nando’s. We’ve seen well over 100 million impressions and reached over 15 million people, while our videos with the Iceland football team have been viewed around one million times on our social channels.
Collapsed Icelandic retail conglomerate Baugur held a controlling stake in the grocer until it folded in 2009.
Iceland founder and chief executive, Malcolm Walker, later completed a management buyout in 2014.
In the summer, many Scottish and Welsh fans bought 5p bags from Iceland to wear in support of the Icelandic football team against England at the Euros.
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Headquartered in Deeside, Iceland has over 800 stores across the United Kingdom and employs more than 23,000 staff.
