China’s Pagoda Fruit Chain Faces Social‑Media Backlash Over High Prices and Near‑Thousand Store Closures
The Chinese fruit‑retail chain Baiduoyuan – often rendered in English as Pagoda – has found itself at the center of a social‑media storm that threatens to erode its position as one of China’s largest fresh‑produce retailers. The controversy erupted after chairman Yu Huiyong, founder and executive director of Shenzhen Pagoda Fruit Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., told journalists that the company is “on a path to educate consumers to mature” and that it “will never cater to consumers.” The remarks, made in a recent interview, were quickly seized upon by netizens as a thinly veiled admission that the company considers price‑sensitive shoppers “immature” and that it intends to push a high‑end, “educational” model rather than respond to market demand.
