Chinese importer says entire stock of Taipan mooncakes will be destroyed after backlash against Hong Kong baker
- Manager of trading company says ‘huge amount’ of Taipan Bread and Cakes brand pastries were returned after mainland media storm over bakery director’s pro-protest Facebook posts
A mainland Chinese importer of a popular Hong Kong mooncake brand caught up in a protest controversy said it would have to destroy stock because it could not cope with the volume of goods being returned.
Wu Haotian, general manager of Yonghuasheng Trading, told the Southern Metropolis News that “a huge amount of mooncakes” made by Hong Kong-based Taipan Bread and Cakes had been sent back by retailers after a director of the pastry company was denounced in mainland media for supporting anti-government protests in the city.
“The amount is so great that we haven’t calculated exactly how much have come back yet,” Wu said on Wednesday.
He said his company had talked to mainland partners about cutting their losses.
“Those returned orders cannot be sent back to Hong Kong,” he was quoted as saying. “The only solution might be to destroy them eventually.”