The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2022-03
Master Kong's best-selling noodle collapsed in one night of CCTV: the pit pickle scandal
CCTV exposed workers stomping pickles in dirt pits at a Master Kong supplier; the stock tumbled 14% intraday and the product was pulled.
Tingyi (Master Kong) · 2022-03-15
What happened
On 15 March 2022, CCTV's 3·15 consumer-rights show exposed 'dirt-pit pickles': at Chaqi Caiye, a Hunan supplier of Master Kong's popular old-pickled-cabbage noodle, workers were shown stomping pickles barefoot in unlined earth pits, with cigarette butts and excessive preservatives found in the product.
The next morning Master Kong's Hong Kong-listed shares tumbled more than 14% intraday before closing 2.31% lower. Master Kong admitted Chaqi Caiye was a supplier, apologised, suspended the partnership and had the affected products taken off shelves. The State Administration for Market Regulation asked local regulators in Hunan and Henan to investigate and punish the producers.
Master Kong apologised for the oversight, said it had set up an internal committee to investigate, and said it never used products from the other suppliers named in the broadcast.
Why it happened
- Cost control drove the company to a low-cost supplier whose 'dirt-pit' pickling process had no hygiene oversight — the supplier was picked on price, not on process.
- The product's whole selling point was the pickle pack, so one supplier's failure poisoned the entire line and the brand.
- The response was reactive: the partnership was cancelled and the product pulled only after the national broadcast, when the damage to the brand was already done.
The lesson
Master Kong's signature pickle noodle collapsed in a night because the cheapest supplier was never audited. One CCTV broadcast erased a best-seller — the brand paid for what it saved on oversight.
Aftermath
Master Kong suspended the supplier, apologised and set up an internal committee, and the State Administration for Market Regulation ordered local regulators to investigate the pickled-cabbage producers. The case became the standard Chinese example of supply-chain quality risk, where one un-audited supplier turns a national broadcast into a brand-wide cost.
Sources
- China Daily — Regulator highlights food safety, 17 March 2022 (Master Kong admitted purchasing the pickled cabbage, suspended cooperation, apologised, products taken off shelves; shares tumbled more than 14% intraday, closed 2.31% lower; SAMR ordered Hunan and Henan regulators to investigate)
- Yicai Global — KFC, Master Kong, Uni-President Respond to Pickle Safety Scandal, 16 March 2022 (workers barefoot in pits, cigarette butts and leaves, up to 10x permitted preservatives; Master Kong cancelled cooperation with the supplier and said it never used the others)
- MarketScreener (Bloomberg) — Tingyi Shares Plunge After TV Show Highlights Poor Hygiene at Supplier, 15 March 2022 (shares down 13% at HK$12.02 in mid-morning trade; Tingyi apologised for the oversight and set up an internal committee)
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