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South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
199 Hongkongers seek help after closure of ‘snow skin' mooncake inventor Taipan
About 200 employees of a 41-year-old Hong Kong bakery chain, known for its 'snow skin' mooncakes, have sought help after the firm's abrupt closure, a trade union has said, with debts snowballing to more than HK$38 million (US$4.8 million). The Hotels, Food and Beverage Employees Association said on Wednesday that workers at Taipan Bread & Cakes had already anticipated a possible closure because the company had not recruited more employees for producing and packaging mooncakes in mid-June, when sales usually started, adding the number of affected staff members was expected to increase. 'Many staff members had worked there for a long time. They hoped the company was just handling cash flow issues, so they stayed to observe,' Nerine Yip Lau-ching, the association's general secretary, told a radio programme. According to Yip, the bakery chain had stopped paying wages since May and staff's Mandatory Provident Fund for one to two months. But some workers opted to stay and see if the company would resolve its financing problems. Taipan earned its reputation with the creation of snow skin, or snowy, mooncakes in 1989. Photo: Handout As of Tuesday, the association has offered help to 199 staff members, mostly factory workers. The amount of money owed has grown to more than HK$38 million, involving mostly unpaid wages, payment in lieu of notice, severance and long service payments. But Yip said she expected the local food industry to be able to absorb the workers from Taipan and revealed that a major bakery factory on Tuesday had expressed wishes to recruit the affected staff.
RTHK
09-06-2025
- Business
- RTHK
Workers ask for union help after restaurant closures
Workers ask for union help after restaurant closures The King Parrot Group has reportedly closed down its restaurants. Photo: RTHK A union on Monday said it has received over 100 requests for assistance from former employees of a 33-year-old restaurant group. The King Parrot Group reportedly notified staff on Friday that it was ceasing operations. The Hotels, Food and Beverage Employees Association said the group's nine fully owned restaurants, including Coast Seafood & Grill in Causeway Bay and Dirty Skillet in Shau Kei Wan, have closed. Nerine Yip, the association's general secretary, said former staff are claiming unpaid payments in lieu of notice, severance pay and holiday pay totalling over HK$1 million. 'We will first file cases with the Labour Department and try to contact the employer,' she told an RTHK radio programme. 'If that is successful, we hope to learn about the actual situation of the company. In the meantime, we also need to find out how much money is owed to the workers in order to assess whether the employer is capable of paying. If not, we hope the employer will sign a letter confirming that it is unable to settle the payments." Unionist lawmaker Lam Chun-sing said he has received calls for assistance from about 30 former employees from one of the group's restaurants in Mei Foo, with alleged unsettled payments estimated to be worth more than HK$2 million in total. Meanwhile, Simon Wong, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said the reported closure of the group shows some restaurants are suffering significantly from people travelling out of town during weekends or long holidays Some upscale restaurants have even seen a 60 to 80 percent drop in business, he said.
