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Associated Press

Olivia Chen and Pauline Ang, friends and business partners in boba milk tea brand Twrl, have tried three times to get on Shark Tank, a US reality show where up-and-coming entrepreneurs try to woo big-name backers.
Now, in a plot twist they could not have imagined, the San Francisco-based women have a chance to pitch a pretty well-known investor – Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu.
The irony is that it came about after they posted a video on TikTok in support of Liu calling out the white owners of a boba drink brand for cultural appropriation on Dragons’ Den, the Canadian version of Shark Tank.
Somehow, it found its way to Liu and the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star invited Twrl to send his team a “pitch deck”.












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A post shared by @twrlmilktea



“I actually wasn’t sure it wasn’t real, to be honest,” said Chen, who posted the day after seeing Dragons’ Den clips. “I decided I wanted to make a video because I wanted to let people know there are other alternatives out there like ourselves.”
This Dragons’ Den episode backlash struck a nerve in the ongoing debate on how someone who sells something specific to a culture that is not their own walks the line between appropriation and appreciation.
There is no business manual on exactly how to do it. It also highlighted how when someone who does not have personal ties to a product inextricably linked to a culture profits, it can exacerbate disparities with businesses from marginalised or overlooked groups.
The Twrl founders say they hope the initiative they took moves those conversations forward and educates some people along the way.












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Liu, who is a guest venture capitalist on this season of Dragons’ Den, declined to get into business with the Quebec-based founders of Bobba, which peddles bottled boba drinks, including alcoholic options and packets of popping versions of the chewy pearls made of tapioca starch.
The company seemed to imply on the episode that its drinks were better than traditional bubble tea and its founders have since apologised.
“I would be uplifting a business that is profiting off of something that feels so dear to my cultural heritage,” Liu said during the October 10 episode. He also pointed out there was nothing on the packaging that acknowledged boba’s cultural roots in Taiwan.
Boba’s origin story actually goes back centuries and can be traced outside Taiwan, according to Juily Phun, an assistant professor in Asian-American studies at Cal State Los Angeles university in the US state of California, who curated an exhibit on the beverage’s history and impact.
The root vegetable cassava, which is used to make tapioca starch, the main ingredient in boba, started in South America. Colonisation led to cassava being exported to African nations, the Pacific Islands and parts of Asia.
“He went into the business because he saw a market opportunity, which I agree with … but it didn’t come from a place of, ‘I really love boba tea’
Olivia Chen, Twrl co-founder, on Bobba, the brand Simu Liu called out
Later, Taiwan would claim to be the birthplace of the boba drink concept, a sweet concoction of aromatic tea, milk and boba balls. A cup of boba is distinguished by the chunkier straw necessary for slurping.
The first US boba drink shops opened in the 1990s but there is conflicting reports on whether the San Francisco Bay Area or Southern California was the starting point, Phun said. The sweet drink is also referred to as bubble tea or pearl tea.
Today, boba shops are ubiquitous. Big companies like Starbucks have experimented with boba for limited stints. Even then, boba was such a small part of the menu that it was not seen as a threat to Asian-American boba businesses.
“It shows the folly of these big corporate things that think they can attract us by one thing,” Phun said. “It’s not just about authenticity. What I’ve noticed is the younger generation is they put their money where their values are.”
Megan Ruan handles entrepreneur and venture capitalist programming as co-general partner of Gold House Ventures – a fund for start-ups led by founders of Asian and Pacific Islander descent.












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Gold House has a coalition of a dozen funds that seeks venture capitalists of under-represented backgrounds “so that you’re increasing the chance that an under-represented founder is going to be sitting across from someone who might share their background or experience when they’re being pitched”.
Chen, who is Taiwanese-American, was particularly bothered that it seemed like the founders of Bobba were only into the drink because they looked at data that showed its rising popularity.
“He went into the business because he saw a market opportunity, which I agree with … but it didn’t come from a place of, ‘I really love boba tea,’” she said. “I wish there would be an appreciation or a story or an acknowledgement.”
Ruan advised it is always best for entrepreneurs to be direct and authentic.
“The most powerful marketing for consumer products comes from personal stories and the most compelling marketing is usually very personal,” Ruan said. “So, it helps when the founder or the creator of the product has genuine personal experience and can speak from that.”

Nearly four years after Chen and Ang, who is Chinese-American, first conceived Twrl during the pandemic, they continue to work with family-run tea farms in Japan and China.
Twrl’s boba toppings are produced in Taiwan, which the packaging notes. The duo even collaborate with artists from the Asian diaspora to design their cans.
Today, Twrl drinks, which include flavours like ube (the purple yam commonly associated with Filipino cuisine) and hojicha (Japanese roasted green tea), are in supermarkets across America and online on Amazon. An investment would go a long way to boost distribution and sales.
Meanwhile, the Dragons’ Den episode has led to some significant fallout. The Bobba founders apologised recently. Panellist Manjit Minhas withdrew her million-dollar investment. Liu posted a plea for people to cease harassing and bullying the owners.
Chen agrees that kind of conduct and negativity is not worthwhile.
“There are positive outcomes that can come out of this,” Chen said. “These topics come up, but how do we actually have a movement of change? The energy that everyone is focusing on, I would like to recentre that energy and say, ‘Could other founders like myself have an opportunity at the table?’”


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Food and Drinks

Asian-American boba tea brand Twrl to pitch to Simu Liu after controversy on Dragons’ Den

Cans of Twrl milk tea. Photo: Instagram/@katsmunchies

Twrl co-founders Olivia Chen and Pauline Ang have benefited from an incident on TV show Dragons’ Den that highlighted cultural appropriation. Photo: AP

Twrl co-founders Olivia Chen and Pauline Ang tried three times to get on Shark Tank, a US reality show, to get backers for their boba milk tea brand. Now they are pitching to Liu for investment. Photo: AP

New Spam dishes by Hawaiian and Asian cooks are  a hit with diners across the US

Hawaiian, Korean and other Asian cooks have developed new recipes using Spam, such as Spam musubi, which have spread to restaurants and convenience stores across the US mainland. Photo: Getty Images

A plate of Spam musubi at Ono Hawaiian Plates in Minneapolis, in the US. Photo: TNS

Chef and owner Warren Seta places grilled Spam onto teriyaki sauce, rice, and dried seaweed while making Spam musubi at Ono Hawaiian Plates. Photo: TNS

Seta says Ono Hawaiian Plates sells up to 300 Spam musubi every day between its two locations. Photo: TNS

Budae-jjigae mixes Spam and other American commodities like sliced cheese and hot dogs with ramen noodles. Photo: Getty Images

With DIY Hong Kong-style milk tea kits, Canadian pair share their love of a special drink

A cup of Kong Tea’s Hong Kong-style milk tea. Photo: Kong Tea

Hong Kong natives Pep So (left) and Stanley Tsui pour tea during the research  stage for their make-at-home tea kit brand Kong Tea. Photo: Kong Tea

Pep So learning how to make milk tea in Hong Kong in 2021. Photo: Kong Tea

Kong Tea’s kits include tea, sugar, evaporated milk and a filter for making Hong Kong milk tea at home. Photo: Kong Tea

Tsui (front) and So at a workshop in Vancouver’s Chinatown in 2024. Photo: Kong Tea

Some of Kong Tea’s customers have even taken tea-making kits back to Hong Kong, where they’ve received positive feedback. Photo: Kong Tea

What’s so special about Hong Kong-style milk tea? A deep dive into the city’s beloved brew

Hot milk tea served at Cheung Hing Coffee Shop in Happy Valley, Hong Kong.  Photo: Instagram/@maru_seki

Contestants making tea during a competition in Hong Kong in 2021 to make the best Hong Kong-style milk tea. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

By the 1950s, Hong Kong-style milk tea had become a fixture on diner menus. Photo: Hoko

Competitors in action in the final of the 2024 KamCha Competition, held in Wan Chai in Hong Kong. Photo: May Tse

As the tea brews, it stains the white cotton bag containing it brown, and stretches it out like a stocking. Photo: Elson Li

A special stamp issue on Hong Kong milk tea making, at the Hong Kong General Post Office in Central. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong milk tea brand Mt Waves was founded in 2019. Photo: Mt Waves

Hong Kong noodle history and the different noodle styles explained

Shrimp roe thick noodle lo mien from Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle in Hong Kong. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Roast goose with lai fun rice noodles from Yung Kee in Hong Kong. Learn about the different kinds of noodles served in the city, how they are traditionally made, and the foods they are typically paired with. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Wheat noodles originate in Northern China, while rice noodles have Southern Chinese origins, says Dr Siu Yan-ho, a lecturer in Chinese language and literature at Baptist University. 

Marco Li Ka-chi of Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle balancing on a bamboo pole to make noodles. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Shrimp roe thick noodle lo mien at Kwan Kee Bamboo Noodle. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

 Cheung Wing Kee started making noodles in the 1950s, producing small quantities using labour-intensive methods.

Roast goose with lai fun rice noodles. The thicker, neutral-tasting noodles are perfect for absorbing the flavours from the roast goose and broth. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

The co-founders of Twrl are invited to pitch to Simu Liu after supporting Marvel star for calling out cultural appropriation on Dragons’ Den


The co-founders of Twrl are invited to pitch to Simu Liu after supporting Marvel star for calling out cultural appropriation on Dragons’ Den.
