Tokyo: Japanese department store operator Takashimaya Co. apologized on Wednesday for delivering damaged Christmas cakes to customers who bought them online.

“We deeply apologize for disappointing many customers,” Takashimaya senior managing director Kazuhisa Yokoyama said at a press conference.

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Takashimaya had confirmed 807 cases of damaged Christmas cakes being delivered.

初めてネットでクリスマスケーキ予約したけど届いたらぐちゃぐちゃ
高島屋なら大丈夫かなと思ったけど配送だとこんなものなのか？わからん pic.twitter.com/KwAEkwSG4K

— ndakr (@ndakr3) December 23, 2023

The product in question was a strawberry shortcake made by Win’s Ark Co., a confectionery company based in Hanyu, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, and supervised by a French restaurant in the city of Yokohama, south of Tokyo.

Takashimaya sold 2,879 of the product at 5,400 yen each. They were sent frozen to customers, but a number of social media posts since around Saturday have claimed that collapsed cakes were delivered.

A 40-year-old woman in Tokyo told Jiji Press that she cried, “What’s this?” after opening the package on Saturday evening to find the cream on the cake collapsing from the top to the side.

“I believed (the product) would be okay as (Takashimaya is) a famous department store,” said the woman, a hairdresser. “I had a big shock, because I was looking forward to it.”

Takashimaya conducted hearings with Win’s Ark and Yamato Transport Co., which transported the product, but found no problems with the manufacturing process or temperatures during transportation.

“We concluded that it was impossible to identify the cause (of the problem),” Yokoyama said, adding, “The one who bears the ultimate responsibility is Takashimaya.”

Takashimaya sold the same product last year, but the freezing time was drastically reduced, from two weeks a year ago to 20 to 25 hours this year, due to a delay in strawberry deliveries.

Still, the company said that the product met temperature requirements in tests and was confirmed to be in a frozen state.

JIJI Press