The recent bubble tea craze has certainly taken Malaysia and the world by storm. Everywhere we go, we seem to see a new bubble tea brand that we never heard of. This just proves how much we Malaysians love our boba tea drinks.
So imagine our surprise when two of Xing Fu Tang outlets in the Klang Valley area that were recently assaulted with red paint. Is someone hating on the franchise now?
The incident occurred on the 17th and 26th October. The motive and the culprit behind the attacks remain unclear. But many have speculated that the incident might have something to do with the ongoing dispute between the Malaysian operator and the parent company in Taiwan.
The conflict was in regards to the local franchise holder’s refusal to purchase RM4.5million worth of new manufacturing equipment from the Taiwanese headquarters. Thus, resulting in Xin Fu Tang, International CEO, threatening to terminate the master franchise agreement held by the Malaysia franchise holders.
Xing Fu Tang Malaysia then took the dispute online, by posting all the details of the dispute on their Facebook page. The post listed out multiple unreasonable demands made by the Taiwanese company, which includes a demand for purchases of machines deemed overpriced by the local agent.
The post also included an incident where the Taiwanese company took to their own Facebook page to announce that they have been seeking new partners in Malaysia despite the contract held by the current holders. However, none of these accusations made by Xing Fu Tang Malaysia can be confirm at this time.
Despite what happened, the local branch has assure fans that their stores will continue to operate as usual. The operators have already summited a report and CCTV footages to the authorities for further investigations.
Hopefully Xing Fu Tang would be able to settle their dispute soon and the criminals of the vandalism act will be brought to justice so that such incidents won’t happen again.
Source: Xing Fu Tang’s Facebook.
