Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) yesterday announced that it would temporarily stop selling soft ice cream because Namchow Group (南僑集團), which manufactures the product for the convenience store operator, is involved in the latest tainted oil scandal.
While Namchow yesterday told the media that its oil products are safe, the nation’s second-largest convenience store operator decided to suspend sales of soft ice cream until the related government agency confirms the safety of Namchow’s oil products.
Taiwan FamilyMart, which operated 2,933 outlets as of the end of last month, previously provided soft ice cream in more than 1,000 stores worldwide, using ingredients that included Namchow’s palm oil products.
In contrast to Taiwan FamilyMart’s latest move, President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), which operates the nation’s largest convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, yesterday introduced a new soft ice cream flavor, which it is scheduled to go on sale on Sunday.
PCSC is using materials directly imported from Japan to make its soft ice cream products, in cooperation with Japan’s Yotsuba Milk Products Co Ltd, a company established by dairy farmers in Hokkaido.
The company is scheduled to sell the caramel-flavored soft ice cream in 249 outlets, before expanding sales to more than 1,000 stores later this month.
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