Meicheng moon cake manufacturers have been fined many times, quality problems have occurred frequently, and brand authenticity has been questioned

Recently, the "Meicheng Mooncake" promoted by the well-known live streaming host Xiao Yang Ge and other leading live streaming hosts has been mired in controversy. The promotion emphasizes that it is a "Hong Kong brand". In fact, the brand trademark was registered in Hong Kong last year and the production place is located in Guangdong Province. The brand operator of the mooncake is Guangzhou Meicheng Food Co., Ltd., and the manufacturers include Guangzhou Meicheng Food Technology Co., Ltd. and Foshan Meicheng Food Co., Ltd., both of which claim to be affiliated with Hong Kong Meicheng Food Group Co., Ltd.

It is worth noting that Guangzhou Meicheng Technology Company was established earlier than its claimed parent company, Hong Kong Meicheng Group, which was registered in 2014 and 2019 respectively. Hong Kong Meicheng Group registered a number of mooncake-related trademarks with the word "Meicheng" between 2023 and 2024, including the trademark "Hong Kong Meicheng Mooncake", which was registered for just one year.

Manufacturers of Meicheng mooncakes have also faced a record of multiple penalties due to problems such as excessive packaging. For example, in 2022, the market supervision department of Nanjing City found that a Meicheng mooncake had illegal tying, and immediately ordered rectification and removal of related products. In addition, Guangzhou Meicheng Technology Company was fined in 2016 and 2024 for food safety violations and inadequate safety production management. Foshan Meicheng Food Co., Ltd., another manufacturer, was also fined in 2024 for producing illegal food.

In response to questions about whether "Meicheng Mooncake" really originated in Hong Kong, a media investigation found that although the brand registered a trademark in Hong Kong, it actually has marketing and production bases in Guangzhou and Foshan. The "Hong Kong" element emphasized by the live streaming host in the promotion is believed by some netizens and lawyers to be likely to mislead consumers, suspected of violating the advertising law, and there is a risk of false propaganda.

At present, the official Douyin account of Meicheng Mooncake has suspended the live broadcast and cleaned up most of the video content. At the same time, Brother Yang’s Douyin store has also removed the mooncake product from the shelves. In this regard, legal experts point out that only registering trademarks in Hong Kong without actual operation cannot be equivalent to "Hong Kong brands". Some merchants use consumers’ preference for international brands to register overseas companies and trademarks at low cost to enhance market attractiveness. This marketing strategy needs to be treated with caution.

The Huadu District Market Supervision Bureau has intervened to investigate the matter, saying that it is verifying the registration and authorization of relevant enterprises, as well as whether there is any problem of false propaganda, and promises to deal with it in accordance with the law and make the results public in a timely manner.