(Yicai Global) Dec. 26 -- Suspending operation of the flagship store on Tmall and pulling all goods offline, Orion, the South Korean manufacturer of the popular Choco Pie snack cakes in China, explained that it was due to changing the operatoris set to upgrade and reopen its flagship store on Chinese e-commerce platform Tmall next month after changing the operator.

The Asian food giant said it was set to upgrade and reopen the flagship store next month for improving the operation of the online retail channel to better serve clients, Beijing News reported yesterday, citing the Seoul-headquartered maker of Poca Chips and Hot Break chocolate bars.

The flagship store said in a notice on Dec. 23 that all goods would be pulled offline that day and the store will pause operation from Dec. 24. Customers can apply for refunds for orders placed after the store went offline on Dec. 23 as delivery might be inefficient.

The notice did not provide the reason for this move and when to reopen the flagship store.

Orion, which counts China as its biggest market, has been suspected of double standards as last year, the food company raised some product prices in China, and in March netizens said Choco Pies offered in China contain inferior cocoa butter instead of cocoa powder.

Orion responded then that it has kept product prices basically stable in the Chinese market in recent years. The firm only adjusted some pie product prices in September 2021. Moreover, the main Choco Pie ingredients are the same worldwide so the misunderstanding was caused by inaccurate translation, it added.

Orion, formerly known as Dongyang Confectionary, is one of the three largest food companies in South Korea. It opened its first office in Beijing in 1993. China made up more than half of Orion's revenue of CNY12.1 billion (USD1.7 billion) in 2021, according to public data.

Editor: Emmi Laine