Mooncake of a popular Hong Kong brand was stopped from selling by mainland retailers after protesters in the semi-autonomous region found a supporter in the founder's son.
Taipan Bread and Cake, which is best known for its snowy mooncakes, were taken off shelves of many mainland retail shops, as well as the sites of biggest e-commerce retailers Tmall.com and JD.com, after Garic Kwok, a company director, was on Monday criticised in an article published in People's Daily, the Communist Party's official mouthpiece.
According to South China Morning Post, searches for the brand resulted in "no relevant information" on Tmall.com and the store could not be found on JD.com.
This is the peak season for mooncake sales as they are traditionally eaten during the mid-Autumn festival falling later this month.
The products have been removed from the shelves of stores in Beijing against Kwok's stance regarding protests, a staff member from Yingming Kailai Technology and Trade Development Company, which imports the cakes for mainland supermarkets and Tmall, said.
The items have also been taken off from sale in other major cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
Liu Shuting, who is responsible for store sales in Beijing, said all the firm's products had been withdrawn and the company was losing a lot of money.
"I can't control what Mr Kwok said. I think the products are fine but we will have to suffer a big financial loss because of what he said," Liu said.
The move follows an attack in party mouthpiece People's Daily that criticised Kwok's Facebook posts for supporting the "activities of those dressed in black", and "forwarding pictures to ridicule the government and police, which has aroused public anger".
Kwok later apologised and deleted the posts, but could not stop the escalating criticism. "What I said and shared on Facebook is personal and not related to Taipan Bread & Cakes. I hereby apologise if they have caused misunderstanding or offended anyone," Kwok posted on Friday.
The apology was shared by the brand's account on Weibo, accompanied by another statement that Kwok's remarks did not reflect the company's stance.
Hong Kong is currently into the 13th week of anti-government protests, which have triggered a nationalistic backlash in mainland Chinese media and online.
Many brands and celebrities, from bubble tea stores to luxury brands have come under fire for their perceived stance on protests demanding for greater autonomy and democracy under "one China, two systems" deal.
