Stealing food leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
It didn’t sit well with Malaysian food businesswoman Michelle Tew to be receiving a cease and desist order (CDO) from American-Korean celebrity chef David Chang, telling her to stop using the term “chili crunch” on the labels of her sambal — a chili-based condiment popular across Southeast Asia, Al Jazeera reports.
The owner of the Momofuku restaurant chain in the United States and seller of “Chili Crunch” condiment in jars had trademarked the phrase to protect his business, and Tew, whose Homiah company in Malaysia makes and sells a version labeled “Sambal Chili Crunch,” felt it was rude he did not talk to her first.
Tew also believes that chili crunch is a generic term for the traditional sauce widely used by Asian foodies and does not belong to anyone. Dozens of small US businesses that received Chang’s CDO letters had similar sentiments, and their outcry forced the trademark owner to abandon his rights to the name.
Chang apologized on his podcast, and Al Jazeera quoted his company as saying, “We have no interest in ‘owning’ a culture’s terminology, and we will not be enforcing the trademark going forward.”
While that amicably settled the chili crunch dispute, an obvious food-stealing case in Nueva Vizcaya backfired on four males.
Jeffrylle Lucero, 19, and three minors aged 16 to 17 were riding their two-wheelers when they stopped at a restaurant in Purok-1, Barangay Baretbet, Bagabag town. One of them ran towards the counter, suddenly snatched one of the pots containing “ulam” for sale, and rode away.
A CCTV recording of the theft posted on social media went viral and helped police identify the suspects. Police tracked the thieves to their respective homes, and their families voluntarily surrendered them.
Lucero was detained while his younger cohorts were taken into custody by social services workers.
As for the stolen pot filled with pork adobo, it was recovered empty.
