This photo taken on October 2, 2017 shows mooncakes in Yichang, Hubei province. (Photo: IC)

A Hong Kong moon cake maker and its mainland distributors are being hit hard by an online boycott after one of its board members was targeted by patriotic web users for posting support for the city protests.

Chinese mainland distributors said on Thursday that all related products of Taipan Bread & Cakes have been removed from shelves and will be returned to the company's mainland general agency, which may have no option but to destroy them.

Taipan has more than 100 outlets on Chinese mainland.

One of its board members, Garic Kwok, posted pictures on social media in support of the Hong Kong protests.

"All Taipan products in Beijing are in the returning procedure," a Beijing distributor told the Global Times on Thursday morning. She asked not to be fully named.

"The quantity is vast," the distributor said.

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on September 13, a peak time for moon cake consumption.

All Beijing orders would be returned to Yonghuasheng trading company, Taipan's general agency based in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province.

The Guangzhou company issued a statement, saying that it did not represent Taipan or its staff's remarks, Guangzhou-based Nanfang Metropolis Daily reported on Tuesday.

Taipan products could not be returned to Hong Kong, said Wu Haotian, Yonghuasheng's online sales manager.

The only choice ultimately might be to destroy them, the Chinese mainland newspaper reported.
Taipan's major product, snowy moon cakes, is Yonghuasheng's main commodity, according to the website of the general agency.

The Taipan boycott came in response to one board member's pro-riot posts and was not the Chinese mainland agency's fault, many users began to note on China's Twitter-like Weibo social media platform.

Some suggested that Yonghuasheng should seek legal compensation, while others noted that destroying all the cakes seemed a big waste, suggesting they instead be donated to charity.

Taipan Bread & Cakes Thursday did not reply to Global Times as of press time.

An employee from the Taipan marketing department told the Global Times on Monday that the company's primary mission was to focus on products and services, without any political or religious bias.