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Squashed Christmas Cakes Spark Chorus of Complaints; 900 Customers Gripe to Japan Department Store Takashimaya

Courtesy of a cake customer
A Christmas cake sold via Takashimaya’s online store and delivered to a customer deformed.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:22 JST, December 26, 2023

Major department store chain Takashimaya Co. had received 900 complaints about misshapen Christmas Cakes sold online as of 8 p.m. Monday, according to Takashimaya.

According to the department store, about 2,900 cakes — designed by a French restaurant in Yokohama and made by a confectionary company in Saitama Prefecture — were ordered online for ¥5,400 each and were delivered frozen from Friday to Monday.

Takashimaya began receiving complaints about partly deformed cakes from Friday. A 50-year-old man who received the cake on Sunday evening said: “The frozen cake was partly squashed. Something may have happened before it was frozen.”

Takashimaya is investigating the cause and will refund affected customers. The 60-year-old owner and chef of the French restaurant said, “We made it to please the customers, but we are sorry for disappointing them.”