Japan department store ‘deeply’ sorry for delivering collapsed Christmas cakes

Takashimaya said more than 800 strawberry frill shortcakes were sent to customers with damage, and it would work with suppliers to prevent this from ever happening again

Many took to social media to share photos of their cakes that arrived completely collapsed or with strawberries sliding off half-melted whipped cream

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Takashimaya said 807 of the around 2,900 strawberry frill shortcakes it sold online were delivered to customers with damage. Photo: X/bakusinnouuka

Published: 3:41pm, 27 Dec 2023Updated: 3:52pm, 27 Dec 2023

The Japanese take their Christmas cakes seriously. So when some “Strawberry Frill Shortcakes” ordered online from Takashimaya Co. started showing up at customers’ doorsteps in crumbled heaps, the incident was destined to become headline news, complete with deep-bowed apologies broadcast on national television.

The confectioneries in question were delivered in the days leading up to Christmas, selling for 5,400 yen (US$38) apiece – not a small sum in Japan, where decades of deflation mean that lunch in Tokyo can still be had for less than US$7. The cakes were meant to be frozen and shipped, to prevent disasters like the one that befell about a third of those who ordered the pastry.

“We deeply apologise for disappointing many of our customers due to the frozen cakes that we sold,” Kazuhisa Yokoyama, senior managing executive officer at the department store group, said at a news conference on Wednesday before bowing deeply for about five seconds.

Takashimaya confirmed that as of Tuesday evening, 807 of the around 2,900 strawberry frill shortcakes it sold online were delivered to customers with damage.

Despite the holiday season, it has not exactly been a slow news period, with a political probe and a carmaker safety testing scandal competing for headlines.

Strawberry shortcakes are popular in Japan, and especially so at Christmastime (along with fried chicken, which have become a social media meme, in addition to the crumbled cakes this week). Takashimaya’s pastries were developed by Les Sens, a French restaurant in a suburb of Tokyo.

Kazuhisa Yokoyama bows in apology at a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo

As to the reason why the cakes collapsed, that remains a mystery. Investigations by the bakery that made them and by the parcel company revealed no lapses, according to Yokoyama.