Old Hainan Curry Rice Stalls Have Different Recipe, Explains Family Member
Many will be familiar with Old Hainan Curry Rice, which served up curry rice like generations of families have done at home.
That home-style curry proved popular at their Serangoon coffee shop stall, until a few years back when they moved to Thomson Plaza and opened more outlets.
However, a dispute with a joint venture partner arose and the family was allegedly locked out from the brand, according to a family member.
Although the family won a salaries dispute case and gotten compensation for owed salaries, they’re still fighting for their brand name which is under the joint venture.
They currently have no shop open but hope to serve customers again.
Customers had noticed that the food at the stalls changed taste but it’s only now that the reason for this is known.
Old Hainan Curry Rice stall family has dispute with partner
The family member gave a Facebook update on Sunday (11 Jul) about the situation that the family has faced since Covid-19.
He shared that it’s been a difficult period but wanted to address questions as to why there’s been an apparent drastic drop in food standards lately.
It turns out that in Feb 2021, the family’s partner in a joint venture, XXX, had terminated the employment of the entire family.
XXX’s daughter had also allegedly locked the family out of their Facebook page.
Checks on Old Hainan Curry Rice’s Facebook page show that the last update was in Feb, around the time the family member claimed their admin rights were removed.
Loyal staff to the family then resigned as a protest.
Stalls started using modified recipe after firings
According to the family member, the family lost their trademark while the joint venture continued to use it and the brand.
The joint venture used their own modified recipe as the staff had refused to give the family recipe up, but customers apparently noticed the drastic changes.
The family said they’d taken XXX to court for owed salaries and managed to get compensation despite him denying this.
However, they’re still fighting to get their brand name back and are thankful to the loyal customers who’ve supported them over the years.
Joint venture was proposed by partner
The issue originated when the family member was approached by the CEO of XXX Group to start a joint venture in Apr of 2019.
Under this, XXX Group would bring Old Hainan Curry Rice to major shopping malls. The family was also led to believe that they had to let go of their Hougang stall to commit to the joint venture.
But the family entered into the joint venture without a contract and only had verbal agreements, leading to the brand name and trademarks registered without the family’s knowledge.
2 outlets at Thomson Plaza in Dec 2019 and Seletar Mall in Oct 2020 followed, with the family working hard to build the family brand.
Then in Feb this year, the firings happened and the family was also locked out of their social media pages.
Fight continues to get brand name back
Sadly, due to the dispute, the family has landed in their current predicament. It is a heavy lesson especially amid the pandemic.
However, the family says the fight continues to get back their brand name.
Fans will definitely be awaiting news on whether the family can get the brand name back and serve their famous curry rice again.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
