Liu Wenxiang responds

Liu Wenxiang said: Dear consumers, partners, and friends from all walks of life, on this International Consumer Rights Day, we express our heartfelt apologies to everyone who has been following and supporting the Liu Wenxiang brand with deep remorse and self-blame. Recently, some consumers have reported and after verification by the market regulatory authorities, it was found that some brand partner stores have been using substandard ingredients, compromising the quality standards, seriously harming the health rights of consumers, and disappointing our trusted partners who have always believed in us, causing irreparable damage to the reputation of the Liu Wenxiang brand. We offer our most sincere apologies to all affected consumers and our deepest remorse to all of our partners who have operated with integrity. Since its establishment, the Liu Wenxiang brand has always adhered to the original intention of "serving consumers with safe and delicious spicy hot pot." In order to reduce the operating costs of franchisees and better cater to the tastes of local customers, we implemented a collaboration model of "localized ingredient procurement," allowing franchise stores to purchase ingredients, frozen products, and meat locally. The purpose of this initiative was to leverage the advantages of local supply chains, allowing franchisees to allocate resources more flexibly and provide products that are more in line with local tastes for consumers. However, during the rapid expansion of the brand, our regulatory system failed to keep pace with development. Some stores, driven by interests, took advantage of loopholes in policies, relaxed standards in ingredient procurement, and even purchased ingredients of unknown origin or substandard quality. This not only disregards the health of consumers but also betrays the trust of the brand.