Loob refutes Chatime franchisor La Kaffa's allegations

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Chatime master franchisee for Malaysia, Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, has refuted all allegations made by La Kaffa International Co Ltd of Taiwan last Friday.
Loob CEO Bryan Loo stressed that the allegation that “raw materials” were used “that were not part of approved recipes” may give rise to the misimpression that there was a compromise in the quality of the company’s Chatime products in Malaysia.
“This is entirely untrue. This is not part of La Kaffa’s contentions, at any time, in the on-going dispute between the parties,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Meanwhile, Loo said any amounts alleged to be due from the company to La Kaffa, if established, will be set off against the former sums.
The master franchise agreement between La Kaffa and Loob stipulates that disputes arising from the same are to be dealt with at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
“The company fully respects its obligations in this regard and will say no more than is necessary about the dispute between the parties. It hopes that La Kaffa will similarly respect its obligations in this connection,” said Loo.
He highlighted that the company would not commit any act to jeopardise its investments given that a substantial amount of investments has been made to secure an aggregate 30-year tenure ending in 2041.
“We wish to assure all our customers that we will continue to innovate our products through ‘product localisation’ for all our brands. The Loob team has always prided itself on the fact that we had built up the business in Malaysia and we will never compromise on the quality of our products,” Loo said.
He added that the company would now focus all its energy and resources on moving forward in its growth story with its 1,000-strong workforce now already serving two million customers each month.