Richmond food lovers, we’ve got some unsettling news that may piss you off.
Cherry’s Food House, a Korean Chinese fusion restaurant in Richmond, recently had a shocking experience with one food influencer.
This incident has left the community buzzing and highlights the challenges small businesses face.
Cherry’s Food House has been serving up delicious fusion dishes on Alexandra Rd. since 2018 and working hard to recover from the financial hit.
To boost their visibility, they finally hopped onto Instagram this June, hoping to attract more customers.
Unfortunately, one recent collaboration with a food influencer took an unexpected turn.
Owner Jin shared with Noms Magazine that the invited influencer, who brought a plus-one, ordered over $600 worth of food—essentially the entire menu.
If you’ve been to Cherry’s before, you know that it is absurd that two people can order beyond $100 there…
“Our portions are quite big, and Korean cuisine is filling. I’d say the amount of food could comfortably feed 20-30 people,” Jin said.
At the time of the tasting, Jin was not at the store and the staff onsite did not want to cause any confrontations.
But when Jin heard about what happened afterwards and was consoled by others: “We feel like we’ve been taken advantage of, and the amount of food waste simply breaks our heart,” Jin admitted.
The influencer enjoyed the meal, took content, and left with multiple trips to their car carrying leftovers.
Yes, it took multiple trips…
This extravagant order is far beyond what’s reasonable for two people.
Despite the setback, Jin decided not to expose the influencer.
“We don’t like public shaming and are not fans of cancel culture. Also, we didn’t set a limit to begin with, so part of the fault was on us,” Jin explained.
The incident was not shared publicly at first, but after multiple messages, the Cherry’s team posted about the incident on their Instagram.
Jin said that the aim was to highlight the struggles small businesses face and encourage other food businesses to not make the same mistake.
It is now unlikely that food influencer will publicly post the content they took to avoid the backlash.
However, there are many names floating around the community who it might be.
The Cherry’s Food House team has been adamant in not exposing the individual even though requested by Noms Magazine (we don’t want our fellow food businesses to work with this individual as well).
We have respected their decision.
While the majority of food influencers genuinely support local businesses, there are a few bad actors who masquerade as supporters.
These individuals trick less savvy food businesses by appearing influential.
They often inflate their follower counts by buying followers or falsely elevate their engagement using comment pods.
Comment Pods: In these pods, multiple people agree to comment on each other’s posts, creating a false sense of loyal following and interaction.
How to spot: Usually, you’ll find an influencer with a relatively small following with 30+ generic comments – from other influencers in various cities and countries other than their locale – on their posts.
Such deceptive practices give businesses the illusion of significant influence and can lead to unfortunate situations.
It’s these bad actors that soil the reputation of influencers.
With the state of food businesses not getting better, it is a time where we should be supporting them as much as possible and airing out those who are toxic to the industry.
The restaurant’s Instagram post about the incident underscores the need for better practices in influencer collaborations.
“Please support local and small as much as you can. And if you can’t, don’t do the opposite,” reads the caption.
This tale serves as a reminder of the delicate balance in influencer marketing and the importance of mutual respect and fairness.
Let’s rally behind our local food spots and help them thrive in these challenging times.
For more new and upcoming food spots in Metro Vancouver, take a peek at our tracker here, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Address: 8580 Alexandra Rd Unit 1015, Richmond, BC V6X 4B3