Where is Nescafe coffee from, and what a cockroach case teaches about consumer rights?

A woman in Hefei, Anhui Province ordered milk tea through a delivery platform on November 27 and found a cockroach at the bottom of the cup. After she posted about it on Weibo she received threatening private messages. The shop was not the authentic COCO but a similarly named store, and only the physical site carried a different sign. The topic trended with 84.574 million views.

The merchant first refused compensation and accused her of extortion, then offered to apologize, pay compensation, and dismiss the store manager. Delivery platforms make look-alike names hard to tell apart, so food safety complaints often stall on identification. Coffee brands face the same issue: consumers rarely know where a product comes from. Nescafe, for instance, is made by Nestle. The practical step in any such case is to keep the drink, the receipt, and photos as evidence before filing a complaint.

Recently, a female consumer in Hefei, Anhui Province, found a cockroach at the bottom of a milk tea cup after purchasing it on a food delivery platform. Even more shockingly, after she exposed the matter on Weibo, she received threatening private messages from an anonymous person. The incident quickly escalated and trended on Weibo, with views reaching 84.574 million. Investigation revealed that the shop involved was not the authentic "COCO都可" but a knockoff store called "与COCO茶饮". The merchant initially refused compensation and accused the consumer of extortion, but later expressed willingness to apologize, compensate, and fire the store manager. This incident not only exposed the difficulty of identifying knockoff brands on food delivery platforms but also sounded the alarm on food safety once again. Front Street Coffee reminds you that when encountering similar problems, be sure to preserve evidence immediately and defend your rights in accordance with the law.

According to a Weibo report by Dianshi News, on November 27, a woman in Hefei, Anhui Province ordered milk tea through a food delivery platform and surprisingly found a cockroach at the bottom of the cup after finishing her drink. The woman subsequently disclosed the matter on Weibo but unexpectedly received intimidation and threats from a stranger.

Coffee Workshop reviewed the involved party's Weibo and sorted out the basic sequence of events: after discovering the cockroach in the milk tea, the involved party immediately reported the situation to the merchant. The merchant responded that it had never encountered a similar incident before, and since over an hour had passed since the meal was received, it could not rule out the possibility that the cockroach had crawled in on its own during the consumer's drinking process, and suggested she first contact Meituan officials for handling.

During negotiations with the merchant, the woman noticed that this "COCO milk tea shop," where she had placed orders five times, was not the authentic "COCO都可" but a similarly named store called "与COCO茶饮". On the food delivery platform, it was very difficult for consumers to distinguish between the two; only by visiting the physical store could one see the conspicuous "CoCo STORM 乐可风暴" sign.

The involved party requested the merchant to accompany her for a gastroscopy. The merchant proposed a solution of refunding the money and assisting Meituan in compensating 150 yuan. However, the involved party insisted that the merchant should compensate 1,000 yuan for emotional distress and emphasized that only half an hour had passed from the delivery arriving to discovering the cockroach and calling the merchant. The merchant considered this extortion and refused her request, stating it would resort to legal channels.

As the two parties failed to reach an agreement, the involved party chose to publicize the matter on Weibo. However, not long after, she received verbal threats from a stranger. From the phone screenshots provided by the involved party, the following private messages could be seen: "Why not say you put it in yourself? You only mentioned it after finishing the drink, you must be crazy for money, why don't you dare reply..." "This 1,000 yuan is your burial money. If the merchant gives it to you, what kind of things would a person like you do?"

The involved party believed this was a malicious threat from the merchant, but on December 1, the milk tea shop manager responded that he was unaware of the threats and had not instructed employees to intimidate anyone, emphasizing that the shop's business license and employee health certificates were complete and valid, and that it held the relevant franchise authorization.

The incident's popularity on Weibo reached 84.574 million and made it onto the trending list. Perhaps due to public pressure, or perhaps because the incident indeed caused financial impact on the shop involved, the merchant ultimately expressed willingness to compensate and apologize to the involved party, while also firing the store manager and reorganizing the store.

A lawyer on Weibo pointed out: "After finishing the milk tea and discovering a foreign object, the consumer will inevitably experience psychological discomfort, and cockroaches themselves carry bacteria, so it is completely legal and reasonable for the consumer to suspect health effects and complain to defend their rights." Dangtu Procuratorate also reminded consumers that upon discovering problematic food, they should immediately preserve the receipt, on-site photos, and the problematic food.

Coffee Workshop has always emphasized that food safety issues cannot be ignored. If you truly encounter a food safety problem, here are some suggestions: after receiving a complaint, if the merchant can prove its innocence, it should actively provide evidence; if it cannot prove it, it should negotiate compensation with the consumer and proactively apologize. When consumers discover a foreign object in their milk tea, they should take photos immediately to preserve evidence, and then make reasonable demands within the scope permitted by law.

Image source: Weibo

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.