Food and grocery delivery service Honestbee Taiwan on Saturday said that it has suspended its operations in the nation.
The Singapore-based company said it is trying to resolve payment issues and asked its employees not to report for duty.
“We regret to announce that our management team in Taiwan has received instructions from the Singapore headquarters office that we are to immediately suspend all our business operations in Taiwan,” the company said in a statement.
Photo: Chen Ping-hung, Taipei Times
The company said it is awaiting further instructions from the headquarters “to ensure that the operating problems can be mitigated and solutions found, then we will resume our business operations in Taiwan.”
The company launched in Taiwan in January 2016.
The suspension came only days after representatives of a “victims self-help association” on Wednesday held a protest outside Taipei City Hall to demand payment from the firm and asked the government to help get their money back.
Association spokespeople said that Honestbee Taiwan owed about NT$7.79 million (US$250,708) to mostly small businesses and shop owners across the nation.
A total of 286 food suppliers and restaurateurs were ready to file a class-action lawsuit against the company, they said.
Honestbee Taiwan’s official Web site and social media pages were still online as of press time last night, and people who said they were owed money by the company posted messages on them.
“We had 10 restaurant owners who had received back payments on Friday, so Honestbee Taiwan has not declared bankruptcy and is still operating. We will follow up to monitor the development of payments for our members,” association head Chen Chien-hao (陳建豪) said yesterday.
Honestbee Taiwan’s Taipei office had been empty over the past few days and it was closed after the suspension was announced, Chen said.
He said that Honestbee employees were instructed to work from home for their own safety, as there had allegedly been altercations with shop owners and creditors demanding payment, he said, citing unknown sources.
Company officials have promised to deal with the payments and other problems, saying they were waiting for funds to be transferred from Singapore, he added.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS