Introduction:The owner of the renowned Panamanian coffee farm Finca Sophia publicly accused two Taiwanese brands of selling high-priced coffee beans under the farm’s name without authorization, sparking a crisis of consumer trust. OK Mart ultimately issued a bowing apology and was stripped of its gift qualification. This article delves into the full timeline of the incident, the statements from both sides, and the subsequent impact, helping coffee enthusiasts identify genuine products and avoid purchasing pitfalls.
Taiwanese specialty coffee chain "OK Mart" and coffee sourcing company "Black Gold Coffee" have recently been embroiled in a cross-border coffee bean dispute. Willem J. Boot, the owner of Panama’s Finca Sophia farm, accused the two brands via social media of marketing and selling coffee products under the "Finca Sophia" name in 2023 and 2025 without having purchased beans from the farm or its partners, causing an uproar in the market.
On November 23, Willem J. Boot publicly named Black Gold Coffee and OK Mart on his personal social media account, pointing out that the two brands had used the "Finca Sophia" name to sell coffee products without authorization. This not only risks misleading consumers but also damages the reputation of the farm.
In response to the accusations, both Black Gold Coffee and OK Mart initially claimed the issue was due to "name misentry" and "administrative process errors." OK Mart further emphasized that the Panamanian Geisha coffee it sold was legally sourced from the origin with complete documentation. However, Black Gold Coffee took a firm stance in its statement on November 23, denying the accusations and calling them "misleading," but then deleted the original post on December 5 and publicly apologized to the farm owner, though still without specifying the cause of the mislabeling.
On December 6, Finca Sophia Farm issued another official statement directly refuting the claim of "administrative negligence," asserting that the incident constituted an infringement of "misrepresentation." This accusation escalated the controversy and drew more consumer attention.
A consumer who purchased OK Mart’s "lot.144 harvested on 2025/5/12" Geisha washed coffee beans, sold under the "Finca Sophia" name at the 2025 Taiwan International Coffee Expo, later found that the harvest date did not match the publicly available information from the farm. Upon verification with the farm owner, it was revealed that batch "FS14425," totaling 25 kilograms of coffee beans, had been entirely sold to mainland China, not the lot.144 sold by OK Mart. OK Mart responded that the actual coffee beans it sold came from another farm owned by Willem J. Boot, "Finca La Cabra," not "Finca Sophia," and subsequently removed the related products.
An investigation by relevant authorities found that the "Finca Sophia Panama Sophia Farm Geisha Washed Yellow Roast" coffee beans sold by OK Mart had labeling that did not match the actual source of the ingredients, suspected of violating local regulations. This discovery further worsened the situation and dealt a severe blow to the brand’s image.
On December 19, OK Mart urgently held a press conference where Chairman Wang Hsin-Chun and General Manager Tu Pei-Ling publicly bowed in apology. The brand admitted that internal operational process negligence led to the mislabeling of the coffee farm’s name. Although the actual origin and the originally indicated origin both belonged to the same Panamanian farm alliance, it still caused misunderstandings among consumers and the farm owner. The brand promised to immediately initiate an internal review, completely remove the problematic products from shelves, and offer consumers unconditional returns, along with the option to choose equivalent products plus a free Geisha gift box as compensation.
Additionally, OK Mart stated that it had received other proposed settlement terms verbally from the farm owner, which are currently being finalized by lawyers, and emphasized that it would continue to actively communicate with the other party to properly resolve the dispute. The brand also pledged to fully cooperate with the investigations by relevant authorities, has comprehensively reviewed its internal processes, strengthened operational audit SOPs, reassigned responsible personnel, and adjusted the management team to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
Although OK Mart has proposed a compensation plan and issued a public apology, due to violations of legal regulations and the resulting social controversy that undermined consumer trust in the brand, the organizing body ultimately decided to revoke its "Taipei City Top Ten Gifts" award qualification, reclaim the trophy and certificate according to the law, and prohibit the brand from participating in the event again for three years from the date of revocation.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
