Many of the Yelp reviews reference the trademark and not an actual experience at the bakeries. “It’s hard work to start a restaurant/bakery and their stance on the trademark should be kept separate.” “We definitely didn’t want this to negatively impact another local business,” the post reads. But the owners took to Instagram to urge people against demonizing Third Culture, particularly on Yelp. Online posters wrote that they plan to buy CA Bakehouse’s renamed mochi cakes instead of Third Culture’s mochi muffins. Meanwhile, CA Bakehouse in San Jose, one of the bakeries that received a cease-and-desist letter, was unexpectedly overwhelmed with messages of support on Wednesday. “Asian American fusion foods have existed in Hawaii for a long time.” “I feel like that’s actually going against their messaging,” she said.ĭavid Menino, a Berkeley resident and former customer who grew up eating mochi baked goods in his native Hawaii, was shocked by the trademark. She decided to stop frequenting Third Culture, and has been urging friends who live in Berkeley to do the same. She loved their baked goods as much as the fact that the owners spoke out about anti-Asian violence and social justice issues. For years, Hsueh would drive from her South Bay home to Berkeley specifically to visit Third Culture. It’s left a bad taste in the mouth of customer Alice Hsueh.
#MOCHI MUFFIN FREE#
Customers who appreciated Third Culture’s reputation as an inclusive, outspoken and community-minded business - one that’s proudly queer owned and distributed thousands of free safety kits after six Asian women were killed in the Atlanta spa shooting last year - were shocked that the same company would send cease-and-desist letters to small, Asian-owned businesses.Ī customer picks up an order at CA Bakehouse in San Jose, which sells mochi cakes instead of mochi muffins after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Third Culture Bakery. The debate has struck a chord in the Asian American community.
Since obtaining the trademark to Third Culture’s most popular baked good in 2018, the business has been sending cease-and-desist letters to bakeries and food bloggers across the country to prevent them from using the words “mochi muffin.” Shyu did not respond to further questions for this article.
It’s another to weaponize it against smaller, single owner businesses,” tweeted Australian actor Desmond Chiam. “Totally fine to trademark something to defend yourself from encroaching corporatism. People unearthed mochi muffin recipes that predated Third Culture’s founding, while social media feeds filled with appeals to boycott the business. Yelp pages for Third Culture’s locations in Berkeley and Walnut Creek were flooded with so many negative reviews that they’ve been temporarily frozen because of “increased public attention,” reads a standard Yelp alert. Third Culture employees started fielding “harassing” calls and messages on Wednesday, co-owner Wenter Shyu said. Outrage exploded on social media, particularly in food communities, at the idea of a bakery trademarking a common term and demanding other businesses stop using it.
0 kommentar(er)
