People boycott David Chang’s Momofuku after company sends cease and desists to Asian companies

If you are a food lover, you probably know David Chang. As one of the most famous chefs of our time, Chang is perhaps best known for founding the Momofuku restaurant group in 2004, which spawned nearly two decades of television shows (like that of Netflix). Ugly Delicious), appearances in media and books.

In 2018, he launched the brand’s consumer packaged goods line, Momofuku Goods, which sells Asian-inspired groceries like “restaurant-quality” soy sauce and air-dried instant noodles. . Shortly after its launch, the brand added “chili crunch” to its lineup to capitalize on Americans’ growing appetite for chili crunch, a sweet and spicy chili oil condiment packed with umami, which has become a staple food in China (and many other Asian countries). ) for centuries.

Late last week, David Chang, Momofuku and their chili crunch offering became the main characters in a heated public relations crisis. On Thursday, the Guardian reported that Momofuku had sent cease and desist letters to at least seven companies that referred to their condiments as “chili crunch” or “chili crunch” as they tried to file the first ones with the ‘United States Patent and Trademark Office.

It’s worth noting that Momofuku has owned the trademark rights to the “chili crunch” since last year as part of a legal settlement with Chile Colonial, a Denver-based company that produces a Mexican version of the chili crisp (similar to chili crisp). macha salsa) — to which Momofuku now licenses the “chili crunch” brand.

Homiah, a brand that sells a crunchy Malaysian sambal chili product, was apparently one of the first companies to announce the cease and desist ban to the public. Founder Michelle Tew told the Guardian the letter claimed Homiah’s product constituted a “trademark violation” and that the company had 90 days to stop using the “chili crunch” brand.

In the caption of an Instagram post, Tew expressed how “shocked and disappointed” she was to be legally threatened by “a well-known and respected player in the Asian food industry” — all for “selling a product that is part of (its) family history and culture.”

MìLà, a company specializing in frozen soup dumplings and founded by couple Caleb Wang and Jen Liao, posted a similar statement on Instagram after receiving its own formal notice from Momofuku, saying there was “plenty of room for others to share their authentic flavors and cultural experiences.

Jing Gao, founder of Fly By Jing (and frequently cited as one of the most central figures in the popularization of chili chips in the United States), has also publicly spoken out against Momofuku in recent days via Instagram and her newsletter Substack – however, according to the LA Times, Fly By Jing recently filed an application to register the trademarks “Sichuan chili crisp” and “Chengdu crunch” before withdrawing those applications shortly after.

In the hundreds of comments on all three posts, the public’s inherent frustration with Momofuku is palpable. Many commenters (including the beloved online community Subtle Asian Baking) are calling on Chang to apologize to the AAPI community for “bullying” Asian small businesses.

Others focused on the hypocrisy of Chang, a Korean American chef, seeking to trademark the name of a condiment with Chinese roots, insinuating that Chang “got famous” through non-Korean foods and is now trying to ” monopolize the market. (In case you didn’t realize: the entire Momofuku empire is a nod to Momofuku Andothe Taiwanese Japanese inventor who created instant noodles and founded Nissin Foods.)

Several small Asian markets and grocers (like Rice Market in Washington, D.C.) have also pledged to no longer sell Momofuku Goods products in their stores following the company’s decision.

As the drama made its way to X (aka Twitter) and TikTok over the weekend, even more debate ensued, particularly among AAPI creators and public figures. In a tweet seen by nearly 150,000 X users, Chef Jon Kung said community approval doesn’t matter “if all you want to do is win,” in a nod to Chang’s money-raking Momofuku empire; last year, Momofuku Goods alone grossed $50 million.

Twitter: @ChefJonKung

“He doesn’t want to be respected by AAPI,” they wrote. “He wants to be the one white suburbanites look for when they’re in Erewhon.”

Additionally, nearly half a million X users saw Simu Liu’s viral tweet challenging Momofuku to a “blind taste test of their two ‘chili crunch’ sauces.” (Simu Liu has been, since last year, the content director of MìLà, mentioned above.)

Twitter: @SimuLiu

In a response to another X user, he reiterated that there was “room for everyone in the market” and that Momofuku’s attempt to trademark chili crunch “is like trying to claim it.” ketchup” or “mayo”.

Twitter: @SimuLiu

His argument is definitely worth considering. Of course, chili chips or crunchies (or whatever other descriptor you might use) may not carry the same weight as ketchup or mayonnaise here in the United States. But judging by this condiment’s explosion in popularity over the past few years, it may not be far from reaching the status of another well-known Asian condiment that once took the States by storm -United: sriracha.

David Tran, the Vietnamese-born founder of Huy Fong Foods (the first company to popularize Thai-inspired sriracha hot sauce in the United States), never attempted to trademark “sriracha.” Instead, he trademarked the logo, including the iconic rooster and green cap. He even claimed that his brand had received “free publicity” over the years thanks to the unrestricted use of the word sriracha. During the recent sriracha shortage in Huy Fong – a dark time in my family! — we saw that free advertising was broadcast in real time. With minimal quantities of Huy Fong sriracha sauces available worldwide, people always craved the “original” despite having access to new, ultra-delicious competitors in the sriracha market.

Amid growing calls to boycott Momofuku products and businesses, as illustrated by the many negative comments on the brand’s recent or pinned posts, it is impossible to know whether all brands that received bans will comply or will choose to enter. instead, costly legal battles. According to the Guardian, several small businesses they spoke with have already given in to Momofuku’s demands and refused to go public with the publication of their experience for fear of retaliation.

According to Stephen Coates, the attorney representing Homiah, Momofuku’s decision to target small businesses with limited cash flow to finance a lawsuit is intentional. “This is a clear case of them going after small businesses with a letter campaign, hoping they will give in because of the financial pressure,” he told the Guardian. “The expression I would use to refer to Momofuku, in this case, is a mark of intimidation.”

If there is a positive side to this conflict for all those who not Momofuku is about the increased visibility and reach that comes with such a public battle. As branding and consumer marketing expert @shwinnabego says in a viral TikTok, social media users (and chili crisp fans) around the world are now making a concerted effort to support affected brands. “David Chang’s bullying of these other chili crunch brands may be one of the best things that could happen to them,” he says.

@shwinnabego / Via tiktok.com

Case in point: People are using their platforms to boost AAPI-run chili chip businesses, and as a result, some are noticing increased brand visibility and awareness.

Twitter: @SimuLiu

A Momofuku spokesperson responded to the PR crisis in a statement to the LA Times, saying the brand was never intended to “stifle innovation in a category we care deeply about.” They added: “When we created our product, we wanted a name we could own and intentionally chose “chili crunch” to further differentiate it from the broader chili chip category.

BuzzFeed has also reached out to Momofuku for comment, and we’ll let you know if we hear back.